In the United States, and even in France, the idea of a tax per kilometer is gaining ground, to compensate for the drop in certain tax revenues.
After the weight pricing for parking, which is becoming a reality in France, whether in Lyon or Paris, soon the kilometer tax? In the United States, we are looking for alternatives to the decline in tax revenues on gasoline, due to the rise of electric vehicles. These taxes are indeed partly devoted to road maintenance. In France, the reflection is also launched.
As electric gains ground…
The number speaks for itself. Between 1993 and 2020, American drivers would have saved 120 kilometers per tank of gas, thanks in particular to improved engines. Over the past 10 years, the proportion of electric cars sold each year has increased from 0.1 to 4.6%.
In California alone, by far the most populous U.S. state, electric cars accounted for 20% of the auto market in 2022, and authorities want to push that proportion to 100% by 2025. If the goal sounds noble, it results in a serious shortfall in road funding, which will grow as the population goes electric.
You should know that in the Golden State, 80% of the funds allocated to road works come from the gas tax. If there are no more gasoline-powered cars, we will therefore have to find a source of compensation, new sources of income.
… the opposition remains strong
Among the avenues mentioned in the United States (and also studied in France), we find the idea of Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), a tax on kilometers traveled, or miles across the Atlantic, 1 mile being equal to 1, 6 km. Opposition is not lacking among Americans. The conservative Reform California association estimated the average additional annual cost per driver to be between $600 and $800. Another concern relates to the mileage of a vehicle. Who will know about it? It is very likely that such a measure will be accompanied by a tracking system that would be installed on each vehicle. With all the possible drifts that this entails.
Environmentalists also disapprove of the idea and point out in passing that with the current system, it is the richest who are favored, since they have more means to finance the purchase of an electric vehicle.
In the land of Uncle Sam, a first state took the plunge a long time ago. In Oregon, a pilot program was launched in 2015, with a system where volunteers pay just over a penny per kilometer. In return, they receive a gas tax credit, so they only pay once. Other states (Utah, Virginia) have followed, and Hawaii is preparing to do the same.
Source : France info
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