The state’s top transportation official said Monday lawmakers’ approval this past session of additional fees on hybrid and electric cars was the right move.
"At the time, we knew that Tesla had already presold 400,000 units of their new Model 3. That's to go with everyone else's electric vehicles that are already in the market, but then Volvo announced ... that by 2019, all their vehicles will be either hybrid or electric," Oklahoma Secretary of Transportation and Oklahoma Department of Transportation Director Mike Patterson told the ODOT Commission.
"You might say, 'Well, Elon Musk and what he's doing with Tesla, OK.' But when Volvo does it, when they say that's what's going to happen, that's what's going to happen."
Starting Jan. 1, registration fees will go up $30 a year for hybrids and $100 for electric cars. Right now, that means only an estimated $1 million for the state highway fund, but Patterson said the move away from fossil fuels has gone mainstream.
"Revenue for transportation's going to have to change from the gasoline tax and the diesel fuel tax for the future," Patterson said.
A recent report predicts hybrid and electric cars' pricing will be on par with their gas-powered counterparts by 2030.
