To the editor:

I purchased a battery electric vehicle (BEV) over 3 years ago. One of the incentives for purchase was that Rhode Island had started a rebate program (DRIVE EV) in July 2022 for EVs. The rebates were and continue to be substantial. The politicians promoted this program to encourage Rhode Islanders to buy EVs in part so that Rhode Island could be a leader in reducing fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Good idea, right? Not quite.

State analysts saw the future of diminishing state gas sales tax revenue and took that to the politicians who enacted legislation this year to increase fees on all EVs in Rhode Island. I got my 2-year registration renewal recently for $539.40. My annual fee is $200, 5 times the average gas vehicle fee of $40 — numbers clearly stated on the form.

As of now Connecticut and Massachusetts do not charge these fees.
I get it that state coffers need gas sales tax revenue. So, I say to the politicians — “EV sales will continue to increase, but you look silly promoting EV sales and giving rebates, while at the same time creating a law to, in effect, penalize EV owners for doing just what you promote."

Another rationale given for these fees besides loss of revenue is that EVs are heavier and cause road damage. All vehicles cause road damage. There are about 809,000 vehicles pickup truck size and smaller and thousands more large commercial vehicles registered in Rhode Island. Only 7,400 are BEVs and 5,600 PHEVs (plug in hybrid EVs). There is no evidence that EVs cause more road damage than gas vehicles of similar style and weight. Even if the latter was true, a better proposal to generate revenue would be to adjust annually a surcharge on all passenger/commercial vehicles based on curb weight so all vehicle owners/businesses contribute, not just a very targeted minority of vehicles.

Also EV owners pay more sales tax for their vehicles than for similar gas vehicles because sale prices are higher. That increase in sales tax revenue should be counted to offset the loss of revenue at the gas pump.

To us EV owners this looks like policy that discourages EV purchases and encourages greenhouse gas emitting vehicle sales. There could be in Rhode Island a time when almost all vehicles are EVs, run on hydrogen, or some other non CO2 producing platform. Then there will have to be some other formula to raise the needed revenue besides gas tax at the pump. Think again, politicians.

Jim Leffers
Warren