More electric cars could mean less money for Florida highway construction

Strong demand for electric cars and better mileage from gasoline-powered engines may mean less money to build roads to serve Florida's fast-growing, mobility-oriented population.

The gas tax has been a major part of funding for highway and bridge construction for decades. But as cars get better mileage and more electric cars dot the roads, we're paying less per mile traveled for using the thoroughfares. 

"Vehicle fuel efficiency has risen by 17.2 percent since 1990, from 18.9 to 22.1 miles per gallon," said Carl Davis, an analyst for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington. "Drivers are now able to travel farther distances on each tank of gas before they have to stop, refuel, and pay anything in gas taxes."

Better mileage for gas-powered vehicles may reduce tax payments. Electric cars can eliminate them and there are strong signs that plug-in refueling is taking hold of the motoring public.

So far through July of this year, 104,863 electric vehicles have been sold in the United States, according to Inside EVS, which monitors the growth of electric vehicles. Last year 116,099 were sold.

Florida Power & Light looks ahead a decade to figure out how much electric generating capacity it will need, and sees a lot more people hooking the family car up to the electric grid.

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"Today, electric vehicles account for less than one-tenth of one percent of our total system load," said Chris McGrath, a FPL spokesman. "Fast-forward to 2026 when EVs will account for about 1 percent, an average annual growth rate of approximately 34 percent."

The longer range outlook sees even more electric vehicles. Don Scott, executive director of the Lee Metropolitan Planning Organization, looks well into the future to try to figure out what the demands will be for roads, bridges and other infrastructure in a fast-changing world.

"Some of the statistics you see out there, over 50 percent of the vehicles will be electric by 2040," Scott said. "It would have a big impact on the gas tax side of it, and that's about 66 percent of the state transportation trust fund."

A lot of the cost of building roads and highways and making transportation improvements have been funded by federal and state taxes on gasoline.

The federal gasoline tax is 18.4 cents per gallon. Lee County motorists also pay more than 36 cents per gallon in state and local taxes at the gas pumps.

The federal tax has not changed since 1993. The state gas tax, indexed to inflation, went up a barely perceptible one-tenth of a penny this year.

Lee County Manager Roger Desjarlais says the county has noted that per vehicle gas tax revenues are not increasing as they once did but said increases in property tax revenues allow Lee County to fund transportation projects.

The annual state revenue estimating conference said earlier this month that the taxable value of Lee County real estate will increase by about $6 billion or 8 percent in 2018 and another $10 billion, 12.6 percent, in 2019.

Lee County's gas tax is estimated by the state to take in about $40 million in the upcoming budget year. But the pace of increase in gas tax collections is slowing, predicted to be 4 percent next year down from a 10 percent increase a couple of years ago. 

Gasoline tax revenue is earmarked for anticipated local transportation projects such as extending Three Oaks Parkway north to Daniels Parkway, widening Ortiz Avenue, upgrading Estero Boulevard and continued improvements to bike and pedestrian pathways.

The reliance on the gas tax means motorists with cars that use less gas — or even no gas at all  —  are not kicking in to the cost of roads, or kicking in at a level below those of even the most efficient gas-powered vehicle. 

As fuel efficiencies and electric cars reduce the need for petroleum, the cost of building, repairing and replacing roads, bridges and highway spirals higher. So, too, does the cost of buying a place to put new roads or to widen old roads. 

"It's not only the cost of construction, but the cost of the right-of-way the department has to purchase has gone up, property values are higher, the cost of equipment has gone up, the cost for labor, concrete asphalt — all of those things," said Bob Burleson, president of the Florida Transportation Builders' Association.

Attention will turn to alternatives as improved fuel efficiency and electric cars mean a greater inequity in who pays for the roads.

"Extra miles being squeezed out of each tank of gas are effectively tax-free," said Davis. "Since 1990, transportation construction costs have risen by 62.3 percent."

Alternatives range from keeping the burden on the fossil fuel users to aligning road taxes to wear and tear on the roads. Taxes, fees or tolls could be based on how heavy the vehicle is and how much it takes out of the road as it rumbles along. 

"In the short term, the gas tax is the most efficient option for collection long term," said  Burleson. "Long term, I'm a believer that we're going to be charging people by vehicle miles driven."

Most states have variables in gas tax formulas. Florida is one of three that index the gas tax to the consumer price index. Fourteen states tie the tax to the price of fuel. 

Only one recoups road costs directly from electric car owners. Georgia levies a $200 registration fee on electric cars. Plug-in hybrid and flexible fuel vehicles pay less. Hybrid electrics that do not plug in use some gas so they are exempt from the state's alternative fuel vehicle fee. 

If no changes in the road tax schemes are ahead there are signs that changes in the way communities think about transportation issues may be at hand.

"In case something like that didn't happen I would think at some point you'd say we might not be widening anything any more, resolving any existing problems and certain things might be stretched out," said the MPO's Scott. 

Assistant Lee County Manager Doug Meurer, whose portfolio includes public works, suggested to county commissioners recently that private vehicle transportation strategies are changing.

Meurer told commissioners that solutions to improve the way roads connect with each other may yield more efficient ways to manage congestion, especially as innovations such as autonomous vehicles become a reality.