US Congress proposes $130 annual fee for electric vehicle owners in 2026 transportation bill

The US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has published a bipartisan bill for the 119th Congress that imposes an annual $130 federal registration fee on electric vehicle owners, with the charge scheduled to rise to $150 by 2035. The legislation, titled the Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America’s 250th Act, also introduces a $35 annual fee for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle owners, which will increase to $50 over the same period. Committee Chair Sam Graves stated the measure ensures EV owners pay their fair share for road use, citing reduced gas tax revenue as fuel-efficient vehicles become more common.

The bill includes strict penalties for non-compliance, stipulating that if state departments of transport fail to collect the federal fee, the federal government will withhold an amount equal to 125% of the owed amount from the state’s highway apportionment. This mechanism aims to secure funding for surface transportation infrastructure, which relies heavily on a mix of federal and state gas taxes that have not been increased since 1993. Adjusted for inflation, the current federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon would be 42.34 cents, meaning gas-powered vehicle drivers currently pay approximately $73 to $89 in federal gas tax annually.

Critics, including the Zero Emissions Transportation Association and the Natural Resources Defense Council, argue the fee is an unfair premium on EV drivers, particularly as EV adoption has slowed and federal charging investments are reduced. Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emissions Transportation Association, noted that the proposed fee would charge an unfair premium at a time when all Americans are looking for ways to save money, pointing out that the $150 fee by 2035 would be nearly double what gas car drivers pay in a year.

The context for the fee is complicated by recent market shifts, with EV adoption in the US decreasing following the election of President Trump and the abolition of federal clean-vehicle incentives. As of now, EVs make up approximately 3% of the entire vehicle fleet in the US. Gore highlighted that the fee lands on top of road use taxes that many EV drivers already pay at the state level, adding to the financial burden on consumers.

Shruti Vaidyanathan, director of federal and state transportation advocacy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, warned that the bill slashes investments in new EV chargers while imposing onerous new fees. She argued that Congress should be boosting investments in projects that cut costs and emissions, rather than ignoring the need to build cleaner, more affordable transportation options, particularly in rural and remote locations where federal funding is most needed to fill gaps in existing charging infrastructure.