While on vacation, my wife received a notice from the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles, regarding the implementation of “registration fees” for so-called alternative fuel vehicles, including her 2024 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.
I have received no information/notice from DMV regarding these fees for my 2023 fully electric vehicle.
We do understand that much of the current money needed by the state to support roads, bridges, etc., comes from taxes on fossil fuels (gasoline, diesel, etc.) used for transportation by internal combustion engine vehicles.
The former collection of fuel taxes directly reflects a fair representation of usage by individual owners of internal combustion vehicles.
Neither my wife nor I have objections to paying our fair share of transportation infrastructure costs.
However, the AFV system apparently has serious flaws, chief among them being its dependence on vehicle weight to judge the level of the registration fee. Vehicle weight bears little/no relationship to actual usage of our vehicles, in stark contrast to the case for gas-powered vehicles using taxed fossil fuels.
We suggest that the state determine appropriate “fees” for alternative fuel vehicles based on actual mileage. This would be a much fairer and accurate method, as well as being much more closely aligned with the former fuel taxes, which reflect usage/mileage.
Finally, the DMV document mistakenly assigns our plug-in a weight of 7,055 pounds. Our investigation shows the actual weight to be 5,573 pounds. This difference is significant, as any plug-in over 6,000 pounds costs a taxpayer at least an additional $30. We know of no process to appeal such an obvious mistake.
The division needs to address such mistakes as soon as possible.
Dan Cannon
Seaford
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
