Electric vehicle (EV) owners may soon have to start paying their fair share as House Republicans push a bill to impose new registration fees on EVs and plug-in hybrids, along with a per-kilowatt-hour tax on electricity used at public charging stations.
While inflation has temporarily kept gas tax revenues stable, the growing number of EVs on the road — 52,691 registered as of July 2024 — threatens to drain this critical funding source. With fewer drivers paying at the pump, the state risks undermining its Special Transportation Fund (STF), which finances infrastructure maintenance, new construction, and debt repayment.
Meanwhile, EV owners continue to receive taxpayer-funded handouts. Thanks to generous state and federal incentives, they are essentially being paid to use roads and highways that gas-powered drivers help finance through two gas taxes — the 25-cent excise tax and the 7 percent Petroleum Gross Receipts Earning Tax. As environmentalists push for greater EV adoption, this inequity raises serious questions about the STF’s long-term sustainability and who will ultimately foot the bill for the state’s infrastructure needs.
At the federal level, EV owners are also getting a free ride. While they use the nation’s highways just like everyone else, they avoid paying 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax that funds the Highway Trust Fund. Meanwhile, gas-powered drivers are stuck paying for road maintenance and infrastructure upgrades.
EV owners aren’t just skipping out on gas taxes — they’re also cashing in on taxpayer-funded charging stations. In Middletown, nearly half of the city’s 94 charging stations — 45 in total — are free to use. Hartford has 289 public charging stations, with 99 offering free electricity, while New Haven has 266 stations, with a staggering 130 available at no cost.
EV fees aren’t a new or controversial idea, nor are they a partisan issue. At least 39 states have implemented special registration requirements for electric vehicles, with 32 states imposing fees on both plug-in and non-plug-in hybrids.
These fees range from $50 in Colorado to as high as $290 in New Jersey, set to take effect in 2028. Hybrid owners aren’t off the hook either, with registration fees ranging from $50 to $150. As EV adoption becomes more popular, more states — regardless of political affiliation — are recognizing the need for implementing these fees to ensure all drivers help fund road maintenance and infrastructure.
Several states have also started taxing electricity at public EV chargers to address the funding gaps created by the rise of EVs. Montana implemented a 3-cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh) tax on electricity from public EV charging stations in 2023, with plans to soften the blow for in-state EV owners by cutting registration fees by 30% in 2028. Kentucky followed in 2024 with the same 3-cent per kWh tax. Additionally, Wisconsin rolled out its own 3-cent per kWh tax in 2025. As more states wake up to the fact that EVs are avoiding gas taxes while still wearing down roads, expect even more to follow suit.
Environmentalists, especially those leading the charge to ban new gas-powered cars, aren’t too excited to see EV owners pay their fair share for road maintenance. Groups like the Sierra Club are pushing back against states that are finally requiring EV owners to contribute to infrastructure funding, calling these reasonable fees a “penalty” for driving electric. Their argument? EVs are supposedly lighter, cleaner, and more beneficial to the state.
Yet the Sierra Club’s claim that EVs are “lighter” is false. In reality, EVs weigh at least 30% more than gas-powered cars, thanks to their massive batteries, which can add hundreds of pounds — or more — to their total weight. That extra bulk means EVs contribute just as much, if not more, to road wear and tear than traditional vehicles, despite what environmental activists want people to believe.
To be fair, both EVs and gas-powered vehicles contribute to road wear and tear; heavy trucks cause the most damage. However, the difference is that, unlike EVs, these trucks actually pay into the system, contributing through fuel taxes and other fees that help maintain the very infrastructure they use.
Meanwhile, environmentalists argue for higher gas taxes — forcing traditional drivers to pay even more — while advocating for “carbon pricing” schemes that lets the government pick winners and losers in the energy market. At the same time, they lobby for aggressive EV mandates while insisting that EV owners shouldn’t have to contribute to the very roads they rely on.
There’s nothing radical about expecting EV owners to contribute their fair share. Gas-powered drivers have carried the financial burden of road maintenance for far too long, while EV drivers coast along on government incentives and subsidies. These free rides shouldn’t last forever, and Connecticut lawmakers are right to finally make EV owners pay their due. Roads don’t fix themselves, and taxpayer-funded giveaways don’t fill potholes or keep roads paved.
A $200 registration fee would generate more than $10 million dollars every two years just based on the current amount of registered EVs but that number is only expected to increase as consumers migrate over to EV or plugin hybrid cars.
The bill is currently before the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee, where lawmakers will soon decide whether to move it to a public hearing and give taxpayers a say in the matter. While the exact structure of the fees and taxes remains to be determined, the message is clear: it’s the end of the road for EV drivers benefiting from infrastructure without contributing to its cost.
