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Saturday, August 28, 2004

Hybrid cars = Higher Taxes
So you can't wait for the whole country to switch from those nasty fossil fuel autombiles to high-tech hybrid mobiles, right? Well, think again. It's gasoline taxes that help pay for road maintenance. Hybrid vehicles will require considerably less gasoline, producing considerably less revenue, but they will subject the roadways to an equal amount of wear and tear. Where will the lost money come from?

Some states are already investigating a pay-as-you-go plan with mileage charges, in one case, quoted as high as $1.23 per mile. The average Amercian drives his/her car 12,000 - 15,000 miles per year. So if you're perhaps a salesperson or a cab owner/driver or in any other profession that requires you to use your car --y'know, basic middle class work stuff-- it'll cost you an extra $15,000 to $18,000 per year for the privilege. The Good news is that people who eventually own Rolls Royce hybrids won't even feel it and they don't drive that much anyway. Of course, truckers will become a thing of the past as we switch to shipping products via the resurrected method of hydrogen balloons to keep costs down.

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It's true what you say about gas taxes,road maintenance and equal wear and tear for a hybrid vs, a regular gas car. But, and it's a big but, passenger cars hardly cause ANY wear and tear to roads.

Trucks do. Overloaded truck really, really, REALLY do.

This from talking to civil engineers who, after all, are the people who know about such things. Further, a bit of personal experence.

On the East coast there are several "parkways" that are cars only. No trucks, no pot holes, no "road maintenance ahead" traffic jams either. Not like the parallel Interstates a few miles away.

Gas taxes could go up, maybe double or better (or worse?). You'll still be ahead of the game with a hybrid.

That's the bad news, The good news is that any governor who proposed a $1.23 per mile tax would be lucky if he was recalled instead of being lined up against the wall and shot.

As far as trucks/ballons go. maybe we're headed for a helium economy.



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