Texas electric vehicle owners will now pay extra fees when renewing registration

A big heads up for owners of electric vehicles in Texas: the next time you go to register your vehicle, or renew your registration, you can expect to pay a lot more.

AUSTIN, Texas - A big heads up for owners of electric vehicles in Texas: the next time you go to register a vehicle or renew registration, expect to pay a lot more.

"It's the next generation, and then it's green energy, so I want to support it, and it has a lot of technology into it," said Suneel Vallabhaneni, an electric vehicle owner.

For some drivers, there are quite a few pros to investing in an electric vehicle, but starting this fall, electric vehicles will come with an extra cost.

"It seems a little unfair," said Vallabhaneni. "Instead of actually promoting new technology, it seems a little unfair that they're charging more for the new technology."

Drivers of all-electric vehicles will have to pay an extra $200 when renewing registration.

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"It's not something everybody has to pay on Sept. 1, but as your registration renewal begins to expire, you will pay that fee as you renew it," said Larry Gaddes, the Williamson County Tax Assessor Collector.

The fees come from Senate Bill 505, which Governor Greg Abbott signed into law in May.

It goes into effect Sept. 1.

"The Texas Legislature has enacted that fee in order for the folks that are driving electric vehicles to, I think, pay their fair share into the state highway fund, which is a fund at the state level that helps build and maintain roads throughout the state," said Gaddes.

While EVs still don't make up a majority of vehicles on the road, that number is growing.

Gaddes said the number of registered EVs in 2020 was 100,000.

That's ten times more than four years prior in 2016.

"It's less than one percent of the 25 million vehicles that are registered in the state," said Gaddes. "The rest of them being internal combustion engine vehicles, so they're still relatively a very small minority of vehicles that are on the roads."

If a driver is paying to register a new electric vehicle, the price is even higher: $400.

"I think, you know, it is still worth it, but I hope they're not going to keep charging more and more," said Vallabhaneni.

If your registration is expired, or coming up in September or October, Gaddes suggested that you renew your registration now.

As soon as the Sept. 1 date hits, so will the extra fee.

You can register online or go to a business center at HEB.