Maryland Could Raise Annual Registration Fee for Electric Vehicles

Proposed Legislation Would Double EV Registration Fees

A bill in the Maryland General Assembly proposes a larger annual vehicle registration fee for electric vehicles. The proposal would actually double the annual fee on all classes of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) in Maryland.

“Increasing Highway Equity Act”

HB1626, sponsored by Delegate C. T. Wilson of Charles County, is named the Increasing Highway Equity Act. The synopsis of the bill is “Doubling the annual registration fees for motor vehicles of any class that are zero-emission vehicles.”

Maryland has committed to 60,000 zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2020 and 300,000 ZEVs by 2025 as part of the California Clean Cars Program that Maryland adopted in 2007. The state has been struggling to reach that goal. According to data from the MVA, as of January there are 24,615 plug-in electric vehicles registered in Maryland.

Incentivize Not Penalize Clean Cars

Advocacy groups like Plug In America and the Sierra Club say that it is too soon for states to impose a punitive fee on driving electric vehicles and that policies need to encourage people to buy zero-emission vehicles until ZEV adoption goals are met.

Policymakers need to realize that until EVs reach a certain threshold of all light-duty vehicles on the road in a state, they shouldn’t be incentivized on the one hand and punished on the other.

Plug In America

The bill was filed after the “31st Day” House bill introduction date and must go first to the House Rules and  Executive Nominations Committee.

For status updates see the PlugInSites Electric Vehicle Legislation Tracker

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