Letters to the Editor: Instead of subsidizing EVs, put a surcharge on all gas cars
An electric vehicle is charged at a public station in San Diego in 2022.
(Rob Nikolewski / San Diego Union-Tribune)
To the editor: Electric vehicles are mainstream but not yet ubiquitous, as they need to be. It’s time we flipped the script. (“California scales back EV rebates to focus on lower-income car buyers,” Sept. 11)
Rather than thinking in terms of EV subsidies, we should be imposing a surcharge on the purchase of gasoline-powered vehicles to pay for the environmental damage they will do over their lifespan. The proceeds could be used to improve charging infrastructure, or to continue to subsidize low-income EV purchasers, as the state’s new program does.
Such a surcharge could eliminate the price difference between EVs and gas-powered cars at no cost to taxpayers.
Bob Deen, Altadena
