TN Hybrid -EV Owners shocked by new state fees

[SP Cook]

IMHO

- No one who pays attention should have been "surprised" that TN taxed this.  I'm sure it was well covered in the media.  But I'm going to give the guy in the story a break on being an uniformed boob, this is a Nexstar station, and this is their writing style.  They try to make a story "relevant" by saying things like "little suzzy was surprised that the park board closed the pool" or "Jimmy was surprised that they are closing the Target on Rt 22" and such, when no one was really surprised, they just use that to make the story seem like a local deal.

- Of course, non traditional powered vehicles should be taxed, and taxed heavily.  At least enough to cover for the unpaid gas tax, but, since such vehicles do not currently/may not ever exist outside subsidy, and the subsidy is in the form of tax breaks only the rich can take advantage of, maybe they should pay yet more.

- Building charging stations with tax money (unless its tax money taken directly from the users via a yet higher non traditional vehicle tax) is daft.  I pay, via the price the merchant charges me, for the regular pumps, why should I be taxed to pay just because someone wants to save money/virtue signal in their vehicle choice?

[Max Rockatansky]

Americans are so spoiled.  Our buttholes pucker when we have to pay more than a hundred bucks to register a car while the rest of the First World is like, "Damn, that's a bargain!"

Considering how many people are living paycheck to paycheck are you really surprised that people are complain?  I'm not saying it financially responsible to live that thin on margins but a lot do.

[edwaleni]

Americans are so spoiled.  Our buttholes pucker when we have to pay more than a hundred bucks to register a car while the rest of the First World is like, "Damn, that's a bargain!"

Considering how many people are living paycheck to paycheck are you really surprised that people are complain?  I'm not saying it financially responsible to live that thin on margins but a lot do.

@Max,

Got news for you. There are tons of doctors, lawyers and other professionals who live "paycheck to paycheck". Its just that their one paycheck is a whole lot more and they save very little.

It's not talked about because they live in big houses and drive nice cars, but believe me, you would be shocked how many pay for all of that "stuff" every month with little after.

So at one end you have those wondering what can they get by with, and on the other end you have those who wonder how much *more* they can get by with.

[Max Rockatansky]

Americans are so spoiled.  Our buttholes pucker when we have to pay more than a hundred bucks to register a car while the rest of the First World is like, "Damn, that's a bargain!"

Considering how many people are living paycheck to paycheck are you really surprised that people are complain?  I'm not saying it financially responsible to live that thin on margins but a lot do.

@Max,

Got news for you. There are tons of doctors, lawyers and other professionals who live "paycheck to paycheck". Its just that their one paycheck is a whole lot more and they save very little.

It's not talked about because they live in big houses and drive nice cars, but believe me, you would be shocked how many pay for all of that "stuff" every month with little after.

So at one end you have those wondering what can they get by with, and on the other end you have those who wonder how much *more* they can get by with.

Why do you presume that I don't know there are people who make good money who can't manage it?  Why do you assume that I necessarily feel sorry for individuals fitting the description?

And no, I wouldn't be shocked at how poorly people spend money.  My own father made 250k annually through much of the 1990s.  The man never invested anything and spent everything he made on vices.  When he kicked the bucket from brain cancer in 2009 he didn't have a cent to his name.  He even married his third wife due to what I suspect was a play to get health benefits.

I get that this is a road forum and there is a lot of "logic" based thinking afoot.  I'm just giving a reason why people complain, I'm not saying I agree with it.  Most normal people aren't dictated by logic when it comes to fiscal matter and thusly get pissy when something potentially hits their wallet (especially with politically charged visibility).  Stuff like mileage taxes and increased registration fees would fall into such a category.

[Scott5114]

I always thought "save the planet" was an odd thing to say.  All cellular life in theory could be wiped out at any time due to cosmic events.

When someone says we need to do more to combat climate change, I remind them that the climate of the Earth has been changing since it was formed billions of years ago...so what exactly are you going into combat with?

Crickets.

So I should be okay spending as much money as I want and never worry about running out, because, hey, my bank account balance has been changing since I started the account, right?

[Max Rockatansky]

I always thought "save the planet" was an odd thing to say.  All cellular life in theory could be wiped out at any time due to cosmic events.

When someone says we need to do more to combat climate change, I remind them that the climate of the Earth has been changing since it was formed billions of years ago...so what exactly are you going into combat with?

Crickets.

So I should be okay spending as much money as I want and never worry about running out, because, hey, my bank account balance has been changing since I started the account, right?

One could argue that I might have unintentionally made a case for doing that very thing above.

[formulanone]

It's not talked about because they live in big houses and drive nice cars, but believe me, you would be shocked how many pay for all of that "stuff" every month with little after.

It's hard to talk about those things due to the sound of many tiny violins playing at once for their plight, especially when they hold degrees in higher education but also can't master third-grade mathematics.

[kphoger]

When someone says we need to do more to combat climate change, I remind them that the climate of the Earth has been changing since it was formed billions of years ago...so what exactly are you going into combat with?

Crickets.

How would crickets help you in combat?  (Please post any replies in picture form.)

[hotdogPi]

[kalvado]

Americans are so spoiled.  Our buttholes pucker when we have to pay more than a hundred bucks to register a car while the rest of the First World is like, "Damn, that's a bargain!"

Expectations and changes. $100 should be not a huge amount of money for a $10-50k asset (car) owner - but it wasn't there last year!

[vdeane]

I get that this is a road forum and there is a lot of "logic" based thinking afoot.  I'm just giving a reason why people complain, I'm not saying I agree with it.  Most normal people aren't dictated by logic when it comes to fiscal matter and thusly get pissy when something potentially hits their wallet (especially with politically charged visibility).  Stuff like mileage taxes and increased registration fees would fall into such a category.

I feel like the world would be a much better place if people did use logic-based thinking with respect to money.  Of course, then the economy would probably collapse, so maybe not...

[Max Rockatansky]

I get that this is a road forum and there is a lot of "logic" based thinking afoot.  I'm just giving a reason why people complain, I'm not saying I agree with it.  Most normal people aren't dictated by logic when it comes to fiscal matter and thusly get pissy when something potentially hits their wallet (especially with politically charged visibility).  Stuff like mileage taxes and increased registration fees would fall into such a category.

I feel like the world would be a much better place if people did use logic-based thinking with respect to money.  Of course, then the economy would probably collapse, so maybe not...

Not disagreeing given that is the approach I tend to take.  All the same though, money management is something a lot of people are all levels of income struggle with.  If anything my own Dad taught me how manage my money by showing me exactly what not to do with it.

[edwaleni]

Americans are so spoiled.  Our buttholes pucker when we have to pay more than a hundred bucks to register a car while the rest of the First World is like, "Damn, that's a bargain!"

Considering how many people are living paycheck to paycheck are you really surprised that people are complain?  I'm not saying it financially responsible to live that thin on margins but a lot do.

@Max,

Got news for you. There are tons of doctors, lawyers and other professionals who live "paycheck to paycheck". Its just that their one paycheck is a whole lot more and they save very little.

It's not talked about because they live in big houses and drive nice cars, but believe me, you would be shocked how many pay for all of that "stuff" every month with little after.

So at one end you have those wondering what can they get by with, and on the other end you have those who wonder how much *more* they can get by with.

Why do you presume that I don't know there are people who make good money who can't manage it?  Why do you assume that I necessarily feel sorry for individuals fitting the description?

And no, I wouldn't be shocked at how poorly people spend money.  My own father made 250k annually through much of the 1990s.  The man never invested anything and spent everything he made on vices.  When he kicked the bucket from brain cancer in 2009 he didn't have a cent to his name.  He even married his third wife due to what I suspect was a play to get health benefits.

I presumed nothing, I only shared my experience. Just like you did with your dad. (sorry to hear about him)

[civilengineeringnerd]

EVs should not be taxed, as that discourages their use. Raise the gas tax and index it to inflation.

there honestly should be a fee on EV charging stations. like a additional 50 cents or something to every Whr of use or whatever.
and that fee would just be split between the TVA and TDOT. but i guess because the TVA is federally controlled, they had to do it this way.
sucks to suck i guess.

[hotdogPi]

I'm perfectly fine with EV superchargers having a tax similar to the gas tax.