Yes, absolutely! The federal government collects 18.4 cents on every gallon of gas sold at the pump, which goes into the Highway Trust Fund. Hybrid and electric vehicle owners use less gas than most internal combustion engine vehicle owners while they still use the roads. In order to be “fair” (a word liberals love) it would only be right that hybrid and electric vehicle owners pay into a special fund for roads. Some states are already doing this. The states and local governments also collect differing amounts in gas taxes for maintenance of local roads and highways. As it stands, with vehicles getting better gas mileage as the CAFÉ standards have been increasing, the revenue going into this fund is decreasing. We have to make up for it somewhere. There has even been talk at the federal level of charging a mileage tax on top of the gas tax because of this shortage in revenue.
In addition, the Stimulus Bill allocated $12 Billion dollars towards advanced vehicle technologies, $5 Billion of which has gone towards electric vehicle charging stations. There are over 15,000 of these stations across the country, most of which at present are free to the electric vehicle owner to use. So not only has the electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle received a rebate to purchase their vehicle and to install an electric vehicle charging station in their home, they are able to charge their cars for free. If they plug their vehicle into their own electricity source the cost would be approximately $1.50 per day, or $45.00 a month.
I have noticed these EV (electric vehicle) charging stations around my area, so I did some research into this. I recently wrote an article about this very subject, because of how much money we the people have paid into this green, sustainable, renewable energy project. Funny thing is, the electricity generated at the other end of the plug comes predominantly from fossil fuels and coal. The carbon dioxide emitted in the manufacture of these vehicles basically puts the car on the road with 80,000 travel miles worth of emissions. So how exactly is this sustainable?
To see where these stations are located and for more information, click here.
