This is the email I sent to state Rep. Brett Miller, R-East Hempfield Township, state Sen. James Malone, D-East Petersburg, and Gov. Josh Shapiro. (Editor’s note: It’s been edited for newspaper style and clarity.)

I am writing to complain about the new $250 electric vehicle road use fee that has been levied. I agree that EV drivers should pay their fair share of road taxes, but it should be charged on miles driven, just as the gas tax essentially works. The more you drive your gasoline-powered car, the more gas you buy, and the more tax you pay. That’s fair.

Furthermore, the Pennsylvania state government knows exactly how many miles I drive my Chevrolet EV in a year, because that information is captured during the annual state inspection. The inspection station has it available, because it’s used to determine whether there is an exemption for the emissions inspection. My mileage in retirement was often eligible for the exemption.

Let’s look at actual numbers. The Pennsylvania gasoline road tax is among the highest in the nation, at $0.576 per gallon. The average gas mileage for cars on the road in the United States is estimated to be 24.4 miles per gallon of gasoline. At that rather low mileage, the gas tax is $0.0236 per mile.

I drive around 4,000 miles a year in my Chevrolet Bolt. The tax should be 4,000 multiplied by 0.236, or $94.40 per year. At the flat rate of $250, I’m paying more than 2.5 times as much as a driver of a gas-powered car! Unfair!

Somehow, the decision to drive an electric car has become politicized, and people who make that personal choice are being penalized and demonized. I don’t like it one bit. You have the power in the Pennsylvania Legislature to fix this, and I urge you to do so! The EV and plug-in hybrid vehicle charges should be mileage-based instead of flat rates.

Emery DeWitt

East Hempfield Township

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