By Scott Calvert 

More states are imposing special registration fees on electric vehicles, sparking complaints that the levies undermine efforts to get consumers to embrace alternative-fuel cars.

Twenty-eight states charge from $50 to more than $200 a year for plug-in electric cars, and 14 states have annual fees for plug-in hybrids that also use gasoline, according to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures. The fees are meant to make up for the fact that electric-vehicle owners don't buy gas and thus don't pay gas taxes that states rely on for road work. The fees are generally in addition to standard vehicle registration fees.

"There was practically no fee in place just a few years ago, and we've seen this massive growth," said Kristy Hartman, NCSL's energy program director.

In 2019, plug-in vehicles made up just 2% of U.S. sales, or about 330,000 cars and trucks out of about 17 million overall. But officials are preparing for a future when a far higher share of drivers won't be fueling up at the pump, Ms. Hartman said.

To promote electric-vehicle purchases, a majority of states offer hefty tax incentives and other perks.

Some states offer incentives and impose fees, which sends conflicting signals to consumers, said Genevieve Cullen, president of the Electric Drive Transportation Association, which includes auto makers, suppliers and other industry players. Tesla Inc., General Motors Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are members.

"Often those fees are in effect penalizing efficiency and innovation," Ms. Cullen said.

A Consumer Reports analysis last year found 11 states charge electric-vehicle owners more than what a typical driver of a new gas-powered car pays in gas taxes. Among them is Georgia, which has the nation's highest fee at $213, according to NCSL.

Atlanta resident Christopher Matos-Rogers and his husband both drive Teslas. While Mr. Matos-Rogers, 35 years old, said the couple can afford the fees -- he works in real estate, his husband is a database architect -- he thinks $75 to $100 a year would be a fair amount.

"It's very punitive, and it's exorbitant compared to a similar gas car," he said.

Ms. Hartman, who lives in Colorado, said when she bought an electric Nissan Leaf last year, she received a $7,500 federal tax credit, a $5,000 state tax credit and a $3,500 rebate from an electric utility. She also paid a $50 recurring state registration fee.

States with fees span the political spectrum and include California, which has by far the most electric vehicles and offers incentives including a rebate of up to $7,000. It began charging a $100 fee for purchases of 2020 model-year cars.

Jonathan Williams, chief economist for the American Legislative Exchange Council, which advocates for free markets, said the fees are appropriate. "Let's make sure everybody who uses the roads pays something toward keeping them up," he said.

Gas taxes are states' largest revenue source for fixing and maintaining roads and bridges. The relative value of gas taxes has fallen due to factors like improved fuel efficiency and the federal government's shifting more infrastructure costs to states, according to a recent National Governors Association report. More than 30 states have raised their gas tax in the past six years, it said. The federal gas tax hasn't risen since 1993.

The report said an annual flat fee on electric vehicles can disproportionately affect low-income drivers and that "exceptionally high" fees risk slowing adoption of the technology.

Georgia began charging a $200 fee in 2015, the same year lawmakers eliminated a $5,000 state tax credit. The fee has generated about $20 million, compared with about $8 billion from the state's gas tax, according to the Georgia Department of Revenue.

The department referred questions about the policy to the 2015 bill's legislative sponsors, none of whom responded to requests for comment.

Washington state resident Larry Copley said he doesn't mind paying his state's $105 annual fee for his Chevy Bolt, which he bought in 2017 for $34,500 using the federal tax credit. He said he figures the fee is comparable to gas taxes he would pay if he had a gas-powered car.

"It doesn't concern me so much," said Mr. Copley, 62, a product safety engineer.

In Oregon, electric-vehicle owners can opt out of the flat $110 annual fee and instead join a program and pay 1.8 cents a mile. Someone who drives 10,000 miles a year would pay $180 a year.

Only 70 of the state's roughly 16,000 electric vehicles are in the program, probably because most owners aren't aware of it, said Maureen Bock, manager of the state Department of Transportation's Office of Innovations.

Program participants can pay the mileage fee daily, whereas new electric-car buyers who aren't in the program must pay four years' worth of fees up front, or $440. Ms. Bock said some people prefer paying small amounts over time rather than a large amount all at once.

Write to Scott Calvert at scott.calvert@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 28, 2020 09:14 ET (13:14 GMT)

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