I haven't seen much discussions around road maintenance. In general, a lot of funding for road maintenance comes from the gas tax. In fiscal year 2016, it was about 41% based on this chart from taxfoundation.org
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| via https://taxfoundation.org/states-road-funding-2019/ |
What happens when we move to Electric Vehicles? Where will the funding come from?
Los Angeles is a mecca for car culture and it shows and can be felt. If you've ever driven around the area, there are streets galore and freeways to match. But also, take note of how they feel. Asphalt is chewed up in a lot of suburban areas. Pot holes are the norm. Roads aren't maintained as much as they should be to support the current population. Just Google "amount of potholes in los angeles" and you'll get articles like these:
- Analysis: Why Does Los Angeles Have Among the Worst Potholes?
- LA's Pothole Problems Are So Bad The City Council Says It's Time For A Repair 'Blitz'
Aside from the amount of cars on the road and the amount of roads to be maintained, there's also the issue of car weight. Comparing a Corolla to a Model 3, the Model 3 weighs a minimum of 500 lbs more or 15% more. Now considering physics, more weight will deteriorate the roads quicker.
Now replacing gasoline cars with EVs we lose funding from the gas tax. To compound on the problem, now we have heavier cars on the roads degrading the infrastructure at a faster rate. This is going to cost money. It's going to cost someone money.
People talk about how inexpensive it is to "fill" up an EV. It may be true (and some reports now are proving that this is not always true, not to mention other issues with where is the electricity coming from), but someone will need to pay for road maintenance. Where will the money come from? Charging an EV may be cheap, but how about that tax to fix the roads? The tax will eventually be added to the cost of ownership.
Speaking of which, how will we see that tax? the most popular answer out there is that, the person that uses the road should pay for it. This makes sense. You use it more, then you pay more. Use it less, then pay less. Similar to your utilities bill. But currently, there is no system in place to do this. there was no technology that enabled us to do this. Until now.
That Tesla, that Bolt, that Leaf, that Mustang Mach-e all have the capability to do this now. Software. The software built into the cars can do this. Track how much you've driven. How many miles you go. Send that data to the local DMV via the interwebs and now you've got a bill to pay to help fix the roads. There's no reason this can't be done.
Cars in production are including over the air updates (https://electrek.co/2021/10/01/over-the-air-updates-how-does-each-ev-automaker-compare/) More advanced integrations of this allows manufacturers to include new "features". Who is to say that helping to maintain roads by tracking how much you drive is not a "feature". Legislators will be asking for car companies to do it or create laws to do it. People will want to get roads fixed. It will happen.
The majority of the population will move to EVs. There's no question about it. The question is, how will infrastructure be supported?
