May 18, 2026
Road rage, but make it tax policy
US bill proposes new national EV tax, while some push to slash gas tax to zero
EV drivers face a new yearly fee while gas gets a free pass, and commenters are fuming
TLDR: A new US bill would charge electric car owners a yearly fee while leaving the long-stagnant federal gas tax untouched, even as some push to cut gas taxes further. Commenters are calling the whole thing absurd, with fights breaking out over fairness, oil influence, and whether road costs should be based on actual use.
America’s latest road-funding drama has entered the chat, and the comments are absolutely not calm. A new federal transportation bill would slap electric car owners with a yearly fee — $130 for fully electric cars and $35 for plug-in hybrids — while the federal gas tax has stayed basically frozen in time since 1993. Even wilder: some politicians are still flirting with cutting the gas tax even more. So yes, the internet saw this and instantly went into full "you cannot be serious" mode.
The loudest reaction was pure disbelief. One commenter summed up the national mood with the brutally concise, “A deeply unserious country.” Another camp was less philosophical and more ragey, with one person groaning that they’re tired of being “taxed into oblivion.” And then came the policy nerds, who turned the thread into a mini cage match: if roads need money, why not charge by how much people actually drive or how heavy their vehicle is? One commenter basically asked why roads are treated like they magically appear for free while every other public system has user fees.
There was also a darker edge to the thread, with posters connecting this to oil money, war, and political cowardice around raising gas taxes. The result? A classic online pile-on: part outrage, part sarcasm, part civics class, and all of it aimed at one big question — why are cleaner cars getting singled out while gas cars keep skating by?
Key Points
- •The article says the proposed US transportation bill BUILD America 250 would impose annual fees of $130 on battery-electric vehicles and $35 on plug-in hybrids.
- •Under the proposal, the EV-related fees would rise by $5 each year until reaching caps of $150 for EVs and $50 for plug-in hybrids.
- •According to the article, states would collect the fees, and states that do not comply could risk losing federal transportation funds.
- •The article says the bill would also reduce funding for EV charging, freight electrification, electric buses, and some programs for disadvantaged communities.
- •The article notes that the federal gas tax remains 18.4 cents per gallon and has not been increased since 1993, while estimating that the average gasoline vehicle pays about $80 per year in federal gas tax.