Free EV Charging Could Soon Be a Thing of the Past

Savvy EV owners know they can charge their vehicles without spending a dime by taking advantage of free charging stations. But an increasing number of states are imposing excise taxes that could pull the plug on these no-cost fuel-ups.

In May, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law that will tax electricity generated at public charging stations at a rate of 2.84 cents per kilowatt-hour, starting in 2025. 

Proponents say it makes up for the fact that EV drivers don't pay the gasoline tax that helps fund road maintenance.

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"Georgia has a reputation for great roads, road maintenance and for bridge repair and very continual bridge updating. That's not free,"  Rep. Rick Jasperse, chair of the House Transportation Committee, told Route Fifty.  "We just want everybody using the road to pay their fair share."

The law also requires EV drivers to pay for how much electricity they use, rather than the amount of time they're plugged in, as mandated by President Joe Biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal.

Gas tax revenues, both state and federal, have been on the decline for years. The rise in electric vehicles is only a relatively minor factor, though: Improved fuel efficiency has meant motorists are filling up less often, and lawmakers have been slow to reconfigure how gas is taxed.

To address the funding gap, at least 33 states have added an annual registration fee for electric vehicles -- ranging from from $50 in Colorado to up to $225 in Washington state -- that is on top of standard car registration and renewal fees. 

Some states have launched pilot programs that replace the flat charge with a road usage fee, based on how many miles you drive in a year.

Under an earlier version of the Georgia bill, the tax would have been 3.47 cents per kWH -- by far the highest among the handful of states that have one. It was lowered to 2.84 cents before Gov. Kemp signed it.

In Iowa, station operators will begin collecting an electric fuel excise tax of 2.6 cents per kWH beginning July 1. Oklahoma and Kentucky will both start charging 3 cents per kWH in 2024.

Pennsylvania already charges 1.83 cents per kWH, but a bill that advanced through a state senate committee would kill the tax in favor of an annual flat fee of $290.

Also next year, Utah will impose a 12.5% tax that its Republican sponsor, Rep. Mike Schultz, says will work out to about $3 for each full charge, the Salt Lake City Tribune reported. The same law also lowers the gasoline tax by 2 cents per gallon. 

"The overwhelming sentiment in the state legislature is that EVs don't pay their share," said Eliza Cowie, policy director at O2 Utah, a statewide environmental nonprofit. "That's not true. And it doesn't consider air quality as part of that equation, as same as road use."

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With the Salt Lake City area ranking among the worst air quality in the US, O2 Utah has considered proposing a tax based on a car's emissions.

"We feel if your car is putting out toxins, you should pay for that," Cowie said. Since EV drivers already pay sales and franchise taxes at charging stations with fees, as well as a $120 EV registration fee, she said they're being "triple taxed."

Nationwide, these excise taxes aren't applied to home chargers and, in Oklahoma and Utah, free charging stations are also exempt. 

But in Georgia, Iowa and Kentucky, if the electricity is complimentary -- courtesy of, say, a movie theater, supermarket or university -- the operator is responsible for footing the bill.

That could spell the end of free charging in many places, especially since some chargers don't have meters or even internet access. 

"It would be really hard to retrofit them to take payments," Jennette Gayer of Environment Georgia told WXIA. "So, if your workplace has a bunch of EV chargers you can use, those might go away."

The US is still grappling with building a working infrastructure of public charging stations, Cowie said. Taxing free ones is a major disincentive for companies to offer them

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