The Virginia Senate this week voted to repeal the tax, which hit hybrid drivers up for an extra $64 a year, the Roanoke Times says. The idea behind the tax (similar to the electric-vehicle fees being bandied about around the country) was that hybrid drivers weren’t paying their share of the gas taxes needed to fund road improvements. The tax was supposed to generate about $11 million a year. Still, the senate voted it down by a 35-3 margin. Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) called the tax “illogical.”
Gov. Terry McAuliffe (pictured), formerly of MyCar electric-vehicle startup fame, vowed to sign the bill. Those of you with a Google News alert for “Virginia hybrids” may think of the repeal as a sort of “just desserts” for gas-electric drivers in the state, where a tire-slashing spree against Prius vehicles happened last summer. About a dozen Prius hybrids were hit at the time, and while $64 won’t cover a new set of tires, it’s better than nothing.
