Tennessee electric vehicle owners — and those passing through the Volunteer state — could find themselves paying a little extra at public charging stations if state lawmakers approve a new bill meant to mirror a gas tax.
As introduced, the bill would institute a tax of $0.03 per kilowatt-hour on public charging stations. The tax would apply to DC fast chargers, which have a charging capacity of 20 kilowatts or more. Residential chargers and those with charging capacity of less than 20 kilowatts would be exempt.
This new tax would be in addition to annual extra vehicle registration fees that began in 2024: $200 for electric vehicle owners and $100 for hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle owners. Registration rates will rise to $274 per year for electric vehicles starting Jan. 1, 2027.
Sen. Page Walley, a Savannah Republican, introduced the bill. He said Tennessee levies a gas tax as a revenue source for maintaining roadways, and instituted the electric vehicle registration fee in 2024 to contribute to road maintenance, since electric vehicle owners do not pay gas tax.
“One of the shortcomings, though, we have discovered, is that all these tourists and folks traveling through our state who are using our roads, many of them obviously will pay the gas tax when they stop and refuel, but those that are using hybrids or EVs and are charging those at charging stations — let’s say, at Buc-ee’s or somewhere else — are not contributing anything to the maintenance of our roads,” Walley said.