Hybrid and electric car owners see $75 fee in car-tab bills
SEATTLE (AP) — Beginning this month, hybrid-vehicle owners in Washington state will start paying an annual $75 car-tab fee to finance electric-car charging stations they'll never use.
The little-known increase is labeled "Hybrid Vehicle Transportation Electrification" on bills from the state Department of Licensing (DOL).
"I was totally baffled," said Brian Cook, of Shelton, Mason County, who received a vehicle-registration renewal notice last week to get his October 2020 tabs for his 2010 Toyota Prius. "It's just another add-on, especially if you're retired. You are on a budget, and if $75 is taken out of your budget, you have to work around it."
The hybrid fee was part of House Bill 2042, intended to promote electric vehicles and reduce carbon emissions. Owners of plug-in electric cars like the Nissan Leaf, who already pay $150 into the state roads fund in lieu of gasoline taxes, will also pay the $75 electrification fee, for a total $225.
The fees are on top of car-tab taxes that help fund Sound Transit expansion as well as state and local transportation projects.
Lawmakers in both parties overwhelmingly approved what's known as the green transportation bill, which included the fee.
"I wrote this legislation to help Washington state transition to a zero-emissions transportation sector," House Transportation Committee Chairman Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, said in a newsletter. It was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee, who made a brief run for president this year with a campaign focused on combating climate change.
The new fee will pay for several electric-car incentives. Proponents intend to fill gaps in the statewide charging networks, to help overcome so-called "range anxiety" with an e-fueling station every 40 to 70 miles on major highways.
The bill encourages...