Texas EV Owners Face New Fees to Offset Lost Gas Tax Revenue

A new law includes a $400 new EV registration fee and a $200 renewal fee.

May 22, 2023

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Electric-vehicle owners in Texas will be required to pay additional fees due to a new law that was signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, reports The Dallas Morning News.

Senate Bill 505 requires EV-owners to pay $400 to register a new electric vehicle plus additional fees, and EV renewals will cost $200. Hybrid and gas-fueled vehicles do not have to pay the fees because those drivers pay a 20-cent per gallon gas tax. The law doesn’t apply to electric motorcycles, mopeds and autocycles.

Texas has nearly 200,000 electric vehicles in the state, with more than 30,000 new EVs added to the roads so far this year. The new fees will bring at least $38 million in new money to the state highway fund, according to the Morning News.

“This is extremely important to make sure people are paying their fair share and that we have adequate funding for the preservation and maintenance of our highways in the future,” said state Rep. Terry Canales, an Edinburgh Democrat, during debate on the law in April.

The bill was passed with wide bipartisan support and will go into effect on September 1.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 32 states require special registration fees for electric vehicles and 19 also collect fees for plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Gizmodo reports that the average Texas driver pays about $88 per year in gas taxes.

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