Nearly three-quarters of Floridians believe electric vehicle (EV) owners are not paying their “fair share” of funds needed to build and maintain the state’s extensive roadways, according to a new poll.
The poll conducted by Cygnal found that almost 73 percent of Floridians believe EV drivers should pay vehicle registration fees to recover the lost fuel taxes they do not pay. It is unfair, say 72 percent, that these fees are not already in place.
The state’s transportation system is funded through a combination of federal funding, state taxes and fees, and tolls, according to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). A large share is funded by fuel taxes generated from the consumption of motor fuel, with additional money coming from existing vehicle registration fees.
The poll also found that 86 percent of Floridians think more money should be used to enhance road infrastructure statewide to improve safety as the state’s population continues to grow, with 75 percent believing the state should build new highways to accommodate traffic and improve shipping commerce.
The “elephant in the room,” says Sally Patrenos, president of Floridians for Better Transportation, is the fact that as more Floridians drive EVs, the energy source simply moves from a vehicle’s gas tank to the power grid we all share in our homes and businesses.
“What does that do to our power grid? Is our power grid ready to handle that extra load? And the answer is a resounding no at the current time. So there’s going to have to be a tremendous amount of uptake in capacity,” she told The Epoch Times.
“The more electric vehicles we have relying on the grid, then the bigger the grid is going to have to be, or the bigger the capacity of the grid is going to be.”
Ms. Patrenos explained that Florida has the second-highest number of EV drivers after California, with 2.57 percent of the Sunshine State’s vehicle market share coming from EVs. California, with almost twice the population of Florida, has 10.32 percent of its vehicle market share going to EVs, she said.
She recounted listening to a Tesla representative explain that roughly 85 percent of EV drivers charge their vehicles at home, potentially underusing the existing charging stations that exist across the state.
Some charging stations are state-funded, but the rest are privately owned by companies like Tesla, Ms. Patrenos said.
But even with the increase of EVs in Florida, the state’s tourism has rebounded to levels higher than before the COVID pandemic. Still, Ms. Patrenos said the state legislature fears there could be as much as a $65 million deficit in the State Transportation Trust Fund within a few years if a solution is not found and implemented.
Florida considered creating a $200 registration fee for EV drivers, she said, but instead commissioned a multi-year study to determine the exact losses on fuel tax revenues before implementing annual fees.
“We’ve talked about registration fees for electric electric vehicles; we’ve talked about a lot of things. But so far, we have not come up with a viable nationwide solution. And really, that’s kind of the point. If you don’t do it, if you don’t come up with a new methodology at the federal level, then it’s going to be very difficult to implement state to state,” Ms. Patrenos said.
At least 35 other states have implemented EV registration fees that range from $75 to $1,100, she said.
Water can trigger electrical connections in the batteries, resulting in combustion. The reaction, however, can occur long after the battery is exposed to salt water, sometimes as long as weeks, experts say.
Ms. Patrenos notes that many EVs are 30 percent heavier than internal combustion vehicles, which adds more weight and puts more strain on the state’s roadways.
She also worries that rental car companies could start adding EVs to their fleets and what the financial impact would be on the state as a whole if a solution is not put into place quickly.
“The long-term look is there, but Florida is still at the stage [where] we can make decisions and better prepare ourselves for what’s eventually coming down.”
