it will be interesting to see how that works for Audi vs how miserable it turned out for BMW
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I didnāt see where a chunk of the $200/year for the EV was going to new Fire Equipment and related trainingā¦
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Seems to me this should just be included in a stateās sales tax, explicitly documented by statue for each state, i.e. .00265% of S/T goes to roads/bridges/tunnels maintenance. Doesnāt really matter how much you drive or whatā¦everyone benefits from the goods and services that move over/are delivered via the highways and etc., not just commuters or about-towners. The fact is the gas tax is becoming, slowly but surely, inadequate as to original purpose and therefore obsolete. Some better approach is needed, and Iād rather everyone have to pay in and that it be clear and obvious how much and where.
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OTR trucking would pay its own way for the infrastructure it depends upon via a ton-mile tax priced sufficient to maintain the road network. Ceteris paribus general taxation decreases, offsetting the increased cost of goods.
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It clearly did not stop the Texas legislature from setting the rate at $200ā¦
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Mercedes tried and failed at something similarā¦
Mercedes EQE and EQS subscription for more power is illegal in Europe - ArenaEV.
That said, remember a time when a new car can be specially ordered, picking every little option from a list?
Manufacturers do not want the cost of ācustomā building vehicles at that level. Most brands have gone to bundling options into trim levels or packages. I personally do not like that as there are popular features I do not want to have or prefer not to pay for in order to get those I do want, but it is becoming a fact of life.
Still, there is potential for configurability via software in giving the customer back that fine granularity in choosing options. When prepping for delivery, the dealer electronically enables those features the customer purchased and the factory does not have to mess with it.
An ironic twist from the days of the microchip shortage. There had been reports of features manufacturers left out of vehicles due to not having the chips to implement them. Sometimes they stated that the vehicle can be brought in to retrofit at no cost to the customer once the parts became available again. A rebate or cost adjustment was given for other unavailable features.
Start/Stop is a feature many people intensely dislike. It was sometimes on the temporarily not available list. You know some owners will never go in for that retrofit. And for those getting a price break for the missing Start/Stop, a common response was, āI would have paid to not get that!ā
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Commercial vehicles are highly regulated, and lower in number, making it easier to implement a per mile tax.
I did not pay close attention to the debate when the Texas legislature eliminated personal vehicle inspections, but a big consequence, whether intentional or not, is throwing away an easy way to tax us for mileage because there will no longer be a yearly record of the odometer reading.
Many will object to the installation of a rat box to report back to the tax office.
That was a common argument made by those in favor of a consumption tax to replace the income tax. Because manufacturers and retailers will have a lower cost of doing business due to eliminating the income tax, competitive pressures eventually drive down the cost of goods and services to more than offset the new tax.
Government does not work that way because there is no competition.
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Some of the new apartments built in Plano have parking on lower levels and residences on upper ones.
I cannot help but wonder whether building codes take into account EV firesā¦
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At the risk of having the cops called on youā¦
https://electrek.co/2023/09/11/ev-driver-calls-cops-energy-secretary-after-blocks-charger-ice-car/
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Oh interesting. After talk of eliminating safety inspections for decades, seems the legislature has finally done it. While annual registration presents an opportunity for such a reading, Iām doubtful that county tax offices could be bothered.
Iām talking a simple transfer of tax burden from the individual taxpayer to industry. The cost of the tax will be incorporated into OTR freight costs and then surely passed onto the consumer. I would not expect any miracle of private industry efficiency to magick this cost down by any significant degree or even at all.
As this conversation has gone well and truly off topic, Iām bowing out of this line of discussion.
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The outcome of this could be precedent setting - but I wonāt hold my breathā¦
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Wow, Florida Man really got his life together.
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Keep them on the TVs are substantially heavier then their ice counterparts As well as the increase stress load on the already overworked and crumbling power grid meaning more weight on the road meaning more werenāt here so thatās probably what theyāre factoring into the additional cost
Very detailed report:
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Another update:
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