Evaluating Federal Electric Vehicle Fee Equity and Highway Trust Fund Revenue: Evidence from Vermont

The United States Congress has proposed the first federal fee on electric vehicle use – a flat $130 registration fee. Using registration records and mileage data for every vehicle in Vermont, we evaluate this proposal on two grounds: fee equity and revenue sustainability. We find that 80% of Vermont gas and diesel vehicle owners currently pay less in federal gas taxes than the proposed EV fee, rising to 86% in urban areas. Furthermore, the proposed fee provides only marginal revenue recovery — inflation eroding the real value of the gas tax is the dominant driver of revenue decline, not EV adoption.