With anticipated growth in electric vehicle (EV) sales in the United States, the question remains: How are EVs going to pay their fair share of maintaining our nation’s highway infrastructure? The Highway Trust Fund was created in 1956 by Congress to pay for our Interstate Highway System. Currently, the fund receives monies from the federal fuel tax – 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel fuel.
The federal fuel tax has not increased since 1993, and since it is not pegged to inflation, collections are insufficient to maintain our highways without the infusion of additional funds from general revenues. The Highway Trust Fund currently has two accounts – one to fund road construction and surface transportation projects and a second for mass transit. One cent per gallon also is used to fund underground storage-tank removal. Over time, the diversion of money from the fund to pay for “non-highway” projects has been growing, making the shortfall even larger.
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