Republican introduces new bill to end the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric cars

[Finishline42]

24. To begin with - raising the gas tax is political suicide - straight from a congressional staffer

Wyatt - this is meant more as a general response to this topic but I'm using your post as a jumping off point.

To begin with - raising the gas tax is political suicide - straight from a congressional staffer which is why it doesn't come up in Congress. I've always thought that raising the gas tax $.10 a year for 10 years (or even 5 years) wouldn't be much different than what we see on the consistent up and downs of the price of gas. Dec 2015 it was $1.60 where I live. It's basically double that now.

There's also the issue from the GOP in using gas tax revenue to fund mass transit (even though the more people that ride buses and trains mean fewer people on the roads and as a result less wear and tear). It also ignores the fact that urban areas pay more in taxes so using the gas tax to fund mass transport is a way to return some value for their contributions.

With regards to the cost of an EV, used Leaf's can be had for $10k, and yes they require less maintenance (no oil changes, no filters, less brake wear). Gas cost is approx $1000 per 10,000 miles driven (10,000 / 30 mpg x $3.00/gal).

There's also the fact that you can buy solar panels and make your own electricity.

Something not mentioned that the $7500 rebate has a hand in - creating good paying jobs. From making cars to batteries - there are a lot of people working as a result.

Plus the more EV's that are sold means that there will be more of them on the used market in a couple of years.