Owning A Tesla In Texas Could Cost You $400 A Year Under New Proposal

One of the most populous states in America is considering a large annual fee to owners of electric vehicles.

What Happened: The Texas House Transportation Committee subcommittee has drafted plans to call for annual fees from state residents that own an EV, CleanTechnica reports.

Senate Bill 1728 states it would create fairness because EVs, like those from Tesla Inc TSLA, don’t pay gas taxes that others pay at the pump.

Original proposals called for annual fees of $200, but the current one calls for an annual fee of $190 to $240. A scaled, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fee could cost an owner another $150 if they drove more than 9,000 miles annually. An additional $10 annual surcharge would also be added.

In total, owners of EVs would pay around $250 to $400 annually in Texas.

The new fees would raise $37.8 million for the state in 2022.

See Also: Beniznga's Hub For Electric Vehicles 

Why It’s Important: The proposals that could hurt Tesla, as well as other EV companies, are interesting since the popular electric vehicle manufacturer is bringing more than 10,000 jobs to the state with its Austin Gigafactory.

Currently, Tesla owners can’t take delivery of the vehicle in the state and have to travel out of the state to pick it up or seek a third party to ship it to them. When Tesla produces cars in Texas it will have to ship them out of the state before residents in the state can own them.

There are 18 states charging annual fees to EV owners to offset gas taxes, according to MyEV. The fees range from $50 to $200 annually, which would put Texas on top of the list. California charges $100 annually, while Georgia is on top at $200.

Michigan charges $135 for its annual fee and an additional $235 if the vehicle weighs more than 8,000 pounds.

Michigan also tried to block EV companies other than Tesla from selling and servicing vehicles in the state.

TSLA Price Action: Tesla shares are up 3% to $588.17 on Friday.

(Photo: Tesla)