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Virginia Mileage Choice Program

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LexVApin

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Virginia taxes hybrids, plug-ins and electric vehicles to make up for less gas usage. They assume a certain number of miles driven.

For those of us that do not drive as much, there is a 'Mileage Choice' program. To enroll, one has to plug in a monitor into the Diagnostics II port.

Anyone know where it is located? I don't want to have a dongle sticking out of the dash while I drive.

Install VA Mileage Choice IMS
 
#2 ·
It will use the OBD II port which is required by law to be below the dash, near the steering column. For the RAV4, it is the large connector to the left of the steering column.

Personally, I would never agree to this. We already have too much nanny monitoring.
 
#3 ·
Keep in mind that these OBDII devices have a tendency to draw constant power, especially if they're from a cheap manufacturer (and given this is a government program, you can bet these are cheap). The 12V battery in RAV4 Hybrids and Primes have had a history of being depleted by these OBDII devices, leaving drivers stranded or needing assistance. If you get one of these government-sanctioned trackers, then you'll want to be prepared to potentially jump-start your RAV4.
 
#4 · (Edited)
LexVApin said:
Virginia taxes hybrids, plug-ins and electric vehicles to make up for less gas usage. They assume a certain number of miles driven.
Click to expand...
I think this is really bad. We all bought gas sipping RAV 4 Hybrids to reduce our "Carbon Footprint" , save money on fuel costs, and now these Republican State Legislatures want to increase taxes on us, for trying to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Here in Vermont, the State gives incentives , for people, and companies to buy Plug Ins and Electric cars.

Meanwhile, in Virginia, as an option, they want to put a tracking device in your OBD 2 port, to report our mileage, and who knows what else to Big Brother. That may screw up your software too.
Some of us want to "hide" our OBD2 port, inside the panel to reduce chance of car theft.
A small RAV 4 is doing a lot less damage to roads than these heavy tractor trailers.

My rant , for now
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
skier6 said:
I think this is really bad. We all bought gas sipping RAV 4 Hybrids to reduce our "Carbon Footprint" , save money on fuel costs, and now these Republican State Legislatures want to increase taxes on us, for trying to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Here in Vermont, the State gives incentives , for people, and companies to buy Plug Ins and Electric cars.
Click to expand...
This initiative was passed by two chambers and signed by a Governor who were all Democrats.

All states rely heavily on the gas tax to maintain the roads. As more vehicles become electric, the states are going to have to find ways to tax those vehicles. This is one solution.

Thanks for the comment about the device being a battery suck. I will need to research that.

As to government tracking, our cars are already tracking our every move and storing it on the computer. Our phones constantly ping cell towers. And our RAVs are in continuous contact with Toyota.
Give it up. Big brother can already get all on us and they don’t need this device.
 
#6 ·
Interesting, I wonder how long it will take for other states to pile on to the Hybrid vehicles.
I would not have purchased a Hybrid if it were taxed, I knew EV's were taxed. I specifically asked a co-worker who purchased a few months before I did if they had any fees to pay related to the Hybrid saving gas. Because it was a NO answer at the time I went ahead my my journey to purchase a hybrid.

I can't claim a hybrid saves enough gas dollars that it will impact the roadway.
If they do, I would have to submit a bill for highway use. I traveled about 350 miles yesterday with 2% one way and 3% the other in terms of percentage of battery use.

Tell me how my hybrid at 34 mpg hurt the construction budget.
I might as well get another 16/19 mpg truck and just pay gas prices vs a penalty. The benefit to me would be comfort. LOL
 
Discussion starter · #7 · (Edited)
NoMoreDomestic said:
Interesting, I wonder how long it will take for other states to pile on to the Hybrid vehicles.
Click to expand...
A friend of mine here in VA has a higher MPG car that is not even hybrid and it has a small tax.

NoMoreDomestic said:
I can't claim a hybrid saves enough gas dollars that it will impact the roadway.
Click to expand...
A basic math question. We get ~50 MPG in the Prius and ~40 MPG in the RAV hybrid. The non-hybrid RAV seems to be getting ~29. So the hybrid will be paying about 38% less gas tax. (11/29 *100 = 37.9%).

I think it is fair for EVs and hybrids to pay their fair share of the tax to build and maintain roads. I prefer the gas tax to tolls as tolls are expensive to collect.

I think it should be a combo of weight and miles. There should be an easier way to figure that out on an annual basis than this monitor.


NoMoreDomestic said:
I might as well get another 16/19 mpg truck and just pay gas prices vs a penalty. The benefit to me would be comfort. LOL
Click to expand...
It is not a penalty since the gas tax paid per mile driven is about the same. The savings comes in not paying for the gas itself. Virginias pay 34.4 cents per gallon. If gas is going for $3.50 per gallon, that means that the gas (plus federal tax) costs $3.156 per gallon (that is 3 dollars, 15.6 cents).

If we drive 15,000 miles per year, and you have a gas guzzling truck getting 18 mpg and I get 40 mpg, you will pay almost $3,000 in gas.
My RAV will pay $1,300 in gas. And I might owe ~$120. So I will pay ~$1500 less than that truck even with the fee.

BTW, my friend has a big truck. Tough to park and maneuver with a huge blind spot in front and rear. My RAV is darned comfortable and does well off road. I will take my RAV any day.
 
#8 ·
Hybrid vehicles, so far in my use, offer a cheaper alternative to collect weekly groceries.
Using the car to travel beyond the grocery store isn't exactly a savings.

My dad has been driving a 1992 mid-size sedan for a hundred years that achieve around 28 highway I believe he said. My brand spanking new 2022 did 5-6 mpg better and cost about 5x as much to purchase.
The state can go knock on the dealership's front door and take their markup to pay for my 5 years of gas taxes.

I am in California where fuel companies have become rich over night because of me paying their $7/gallon prices. If CA should ever be exempt from this penalty, now is that time.
I've had a registered fullsize pickup truck in California since 1998 or so. Paying weight class fees and more gallons of fuel -my road taxes over 20+ years have more than paid my part.
IF they do decide to tax hybrid and other vehicle, it should be for future sales, not previous sales.
It's like me going to the store for a tub of ice cream then having the store manager follow me home and make me pay a food tax that they just decided to make effective.
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
"I am in California where fuel companies have become rich over night because of me paying their $7/gallon prices. If CA should ever be exempt from this penalty, now is that time."

I used to live in OR and gas prices were higher there too. Not sure why gas is so much more expensive out there, but it is not going to the fuel companies bottom line.

www.marketplace.org

Why are California’s gas prices so high?

There are several reasons. For one, the state is highly dependent on foreign crude oil.
www.marketplace.org www.marketplace.org
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
iTim314 said:
Keep in mind that these OBDII devices have a tendency to draw constant power, especially if they're from a cheap manufacturer (and given this is a government program, you can bet these are cheap). The 12V battery in RAV4 Hybrids and Primes have had a history of being depleted by these OBDII devices, leaving drivers stranded or needing assistance. If you get one of these government-sanctioned trackers, then you'll want to be prepared to potentially jump-start your RAV4.
Click to expand...
From the manufacturer:

"While in a resting state, the device draws less than 4 mA on average. While uploading data, the device may momentarily draw up to 100 mA on average. After the data is uploaded, it will return to a resting state. The device will move from a resting state to a power-save mode when the vehicle battery voltage drops This safeguard prevents further draining of a low battery, whenever the vehicle is not in operation."
 
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