CICE Urges a Fair, Data-Driven Approach to EV Fees
Every five years, Congress must renew the Surface Transportation Bill, the law that sets federal transportation policy and funds roads, bridges, and transit projects. The current bill expires on Sept. 30, and Congress has been working for months on its successor. On May 17, 2026, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released the Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development (BUILD) America 250 Act. The BUILD America 250 Act proposes the first-ever federal annual fees for owners of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), $130 and $35, respectively. These fees would begin in 2027 and eventually rise to $150 and $50.
The bill’s authors argue these fees are necessary to ensure EV and PHEV owners pay their share towards the Federal Highway Trust Fund (Trust Fund), which relies primarily on federal gasoline and diesel fuel taxes. In 2025, EVs represented 1.9% of all U.S. vehicles on the road.
Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) agrees that all vehicle owners should contribute to the roads they use. However, a flat annual fee is not the most fair or effective approach. Owners of gas-powered vehicles can reduce the amount of gas tax they pay by choosing a more fuel-efficient vehicle or driving fewer miles. A flat fee offers EV and PHEV owners no such option. Additionally, because EVs and PHEVs still make up a relatively small share of vehicles on the road, these fees are unlikely to meaningfully address the Trust Fund’s long-term funding challenges.
Instead, we urge Congress to adopt a data-driven approach that aligns what EV and PHEV owners pay with what comparable drivers pay in gas tax. Better yet, Congress should fix the structural deficiencies in how we fund transportation at the federal level.
Federal fuel taxes have not been raised since 1993 and have never been indexed to inflation. These stagnant taxes, combined with greater vehicle fuel efficiency over the same period, have left the Trust Fund so underfunded that Congress has had to supplement it with General Fund revenue on several occasions since 2008.
If Congress is serious about fixing the Trust Fund, it should consider broader transportation funding reform. Alternative approaches could take many forms, including any or a combination of the following:
Raising the gas tax and indexing it to inflation
Moving to a vehicle miles traveled system for all types of vehicles
Charging every vehicle a flat road-access fee in lieu of gas taxes
Tolling roads and highways
The decisions in this bill will shape regional economies for years to come. CICE strongly recommends Congress act now, while the legislation is still taking shape, to make transportation funding fair, data-driven, and dependable over the long term. CICE also encourages chambers of commerce and economic development organizations to make that case directly to their representatives.
Click here for more information about CICE’s position and recommendations for EV registration fees.
