Will the growth of electric cars damage California’s roads?

California drivers already drive on some of the worst roads in the country, but the poor condition of the state’s roads and highways could worsen in coming years as electric cars take over and Gasoline cars will disappear, state analysts say.

That’s because money for road repair and maintenance depends on state fuel taxes, and those revenues are expected to fall. Electric vehicles don’t use gasoline, so electric vehicle drivers don’t pay gas tax.

A new report of the Legislative Analyst’s Office warns that the loss of state fuel tax revenue could have dire consequences for road maintenance. Gasoline and diesel taxes now total about $14.2 billion a year. More than $4 billion a year could disappear by 2035, when the state’s ban on the sale of new fossil fuel cars goes into full effect.

The news comes at a time when the state is struggling with a $37.9 billion budget deficit that forced cuts to climate programs and other services. The possible solutions outlined in the report will likely prove unpopular: raising taxes, raising taxes, or significantly reducing spending on road repair, maintenance, and construction.

California is positioning itself as a global leader in the fight against climate change. The aggressive transition towards 100% zero-emission cars and light trucks by 2035 is the key to the plan. Transportation accounts for about 40% of California’s greenhouse gases, with about three-quarters coming from passenger cars and trucks.

Stephen Finnegan, government affairs manager for the Automobile Club of Southern California, notes that “roads and transportation are fundamental to life in California, essential to our economy, quality of life and safety.” A fundamental transformation in a culture long dependent on fossil fuel transportation will not come without new costs.

But cutting highway spending probably won’t please California drivers, who travel through some of the worst roads in the country. A 2022 ranking of state-by-state road conditions by the American Society of Civil Engineers puts California in second-to-last place, tied with six other states with a grade of D. Only one state’s grade was worse — Mississippi, which got a D-minus.

A ChargePoint public electric vehicle charger in Long Beach. A new report warns that the transition to electric vehicles will result in a loss of fuel tax revenue and road maintenance funding.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

“There are so many infrastructure projects that are reaching the end of their useful life,” said Andreas Groehn of the private Berkeley research group. “Replacing them will cost more and more. »

The traditional way to cover road fund shortfalls is to increase fuel taxes.

The gas tax currently stands at 57.9 cents per gallon, among the highest in the nation, and, according to state law, increases each year with inflation. Gas tax hikes are always a tough sell, and raising them to offset lost revenue from electric vehicle alternatives could be even tougher since gasoline users would be the ones paying.

Yet the maintenance of 52,000 miles of state roads and 333,000 miles of local roads must be funded somehow.

Spreading the costs of road financing across electric vehicles is another option. In California, electric vehicle owners with cars from model year 2020 or later pay a special registration fee of $108 per year per vehicle. This is expected to add $80 million to the road financing budgetaccording to the California Department of Transportation. Even if the market share of electric vehicles increases, fees at this level will not be enough to close the financing gap, the report said.

More than 30 states have implemented registration fees for electric vehicles, with most falling between $100 and $200. However, raising electric vehicle prices much higher risks alienating some buyers who are considering trading in their fossil fuel cars and trucks for cleaner alternatives.

Annual registration fees, which are linked to the vehicle’s market value, could also be increased, but such a move would almost certainly provoke a political battle.

The most provocative idea in the analyst’s office report is a road tax, based on the total number of kilometers traveled by vehicles. The state has been testing such a system for several years. It would use GPS satellite information to track a vehicle’s mileage and set fees accordingly.

Supporters view road tolls as a modern technological solution to an increasingly outdated gasoline tax, a 100-year-old levy originally set at 2 cents per gallon in 1923.

“There is information and data available to help design a more optimal system than what currently exists,” said Kevin Christensen, Groehn associate at Berkeley Research Group. Most options for closing the gap boil down to system tweaks, but solutions “need to be more comprehensive and thoughtful,” he said.

A wholesale shift to road tolls presents complications, such as how to calculate trips on rural private roads and privacy concerns for those who don’t want the government tracking their movements (even though Google, Apple and others tech companies are doing it now).

The Auto Club’s Finnegan is vice chairman of a state committee studying the idea of ​​highway tolls. Gas taxes are well understood by the public and easy to collect, he said. Moving to a radically different road financing system would be difficult. But “the main thing is to find the best way forward, and that’s what’s being worked out right now.”

The analyst firm recommends that the Legislature “continue to monitor” the looming road funding shortfall and “begin developing a long-term plan on how to address future revenue declines.”

Neither the Assembly nor the Senate plans to directly address the issue in the upcoming legislative session, although the office of Senate Transportation Committee Chairwoman Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) said a 10-year transportation needs assessment by the California Transportation Commission, expected by the end of the year, will set the stage for focused deliberations.