IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v171y2025icp359-369.html

Compensating losses in fossil fuel tax revenues: First evidence of public support for a BEV mileage tax

Author

Listed:
  • Levis, Alessio
  • Lichtin, Florian
  • Bernauer, Thomas

Abstract

The increasing share of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) goes hand in hand with declining government revenue from fossil fuel taxes. This, in turn, erodes funding for roads and other purposes. One currently considered option by governments for filling the emerging budget gap is a BEV mileage tax. Recent research suggests that public support for a transition from vehicle fuel taxes to mileage taxes for all vehicles is low. But what about a mileage tax on BEVs only? We argue that majority public support for a BEV mileage tax is currently conceivable, given that owners of electric vehicles may be perceived as (partial) free riders, specifically in countries where fuel taxes are earmarked for road infrastructure. Based on a choice experiment with a representative sample of the adult population in Switzerland (n=3283), where such a BEV mileage tax is currently considered, we study overall support and also assess how policy design attributes, such as the mileage measurement method and the chosen tariff system, affect policy preferences. We find that a BEV mileage tax could obtain majority support, specifically for tax designs that account for vehicle weight and power. At the same time, current BEV owners are less supportive of a new BEV mileage tax, indicating that growing BEV ownership could challenge policy implementation. Further, we discuss the risk of how the increase in ownership costs for BEV holders could potentially slow BEV adoption and jeopardize climate targets. The research reported here provides a template for studying the issue in other countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Levis, Alessio & Lichtin, Florian & Bernauer, Thomas, 2025. "Compensating losses in fossil fuel tax revenues: First evidence of public support for a BEV mileage tax," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 359-369.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:171:y:2025:i:c:p:359-369
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2025.05.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X25001866
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2025.05.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lucas W. Davis & James M. Sallee, 2020. "Should Electric Vehicle Drivers Pay a Mileage Tax?," Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 65-94.
    2. Denvil Duncan & Venkata Nadella & Ashley Bowers & Stacey Giroux & John D. Graham, 2014. "Bumpy Designs: Impact of Privacy and Technology Costs on Support for Road Mileage User Fees," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 67(3), pages 505-530, September.
    3. Haghani, Milad & Ghaderi, Hadi & Hensher, David, 2024. "Hidden effects and externalities of electric vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    4. Duncan, Denvil & Li, Danyang & Graham, John D., 2020. "Tax rate design and support for mileage user-fees," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 17-26.
    5. Rajagopal, Deepak, 2023. "Implications of the energy transition for government revenues, energy imports and employment: The case of electric vehicles in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    6. Bonilla, David & Arias Soberon, Héctor & Galarza, Oscar Ugarteche, 2022. "Electric vehicle deployment & fossil fuel tax revenue in Mexico to 2050," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    7. Victor-Gallardo, Luis & Zúñiga, Mónica Rodríguez & Quirós-Tortós, Jairo & Jaramillo, Marcela & Vogt-Schilb, Adrien, 2024. "Policy options to mitigate the fiscal impact of road transport decarbonization: Application to Costa Rica," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    8. Duncan, Denvil & Nadella, Venkata & Giroux, Stacey & Bowers, Ashley & Graham, John D., 2017. "The road mileage user-fee: Level, intensity, and predictors of public support," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 70-78.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Börjesson, Maria & Asplund, Disa & Hamilton, Carl, 2021. "Optimal kilometre tax for electric passenger cars," Working Papers 2021:3, Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI).
    2. Duncan, Denvil & Li, Danyang & Graham, John D., 2020. "Tax rate design and support for mileage user-fees," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 17-26.
    3. Epstein, Lucas & Muehlegger, Erich, 2024. "Ideology, Incidence and the Political Economy of Fuel Taxes: Evidence from California 2018 Proposition 6," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt6k58771s, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    4. Leslie Cardoza Cedillo & Michelle Montoya & Mónica Jaldón & Ma Guadalupe Paredes, 2023. "GHG Emission Accounting and Reduction Strategies in the Academic Sector: A Case Study in Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-18, June.
    5. Fabian Feger & Nicola Pavanini & Doina Radulescu, 2022. "Welfare and Redistribution in Residential Electricity Markets with Solar Power," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(6), pages 3267-3302.
    6. Moshe Ben-Akiva & Michel Bierlaire & Khan Doyme & Shari Gershenfeld & Nathalie Picard & Andreas W. Schäfer & Ravi Seshadri & Aruna Sivakumar & Linda Steg, 2025. "The Behavioral Dimension of Transport Decarbonization," Working Papers of BETA 2025-31, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    7. Fonseca, Camila & Jiang, Haiyue & Zeerak, Raihana & Zhao, Jerry Zhirong, 2024. "Explaining the adoption of electric vehicle fees across the United States," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 139-149.
    8. Hayashida, Sherilyn & La Croix, Sumner & Coffman, Makena, 2021. "Understanding changes in electric vehicle policies in the U.S. states, 2010–2018," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 211-223.
    9. Ahmadian, Amirhossein & Ghodrati, Vahid & Gadh, Rajit, 2023. "Artificial deep neural network enables one-size-fits-all electric vehicle user behavior prediction framework," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    10. Linda M. Fogg & Lawrence C. Hamilton & Erin S. Bell, 2020. "Views of the Highway: Infrastructure Reality, Perceptions, and Politics," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, October.
    11. Dong, Xiaojun & Yu, Xiaowen & Shi, Tao & Qiao, Dan, 2024. "Nexus between carbon emissions and local debt risk: Evidence from China's prefecture-level cities," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    12. Lu, Yiya & Peng, Tianduo & Wang, Lining & Ou, Xunmin & Pan, Xunzhang & Zheng, Ying & Chen, Zhan-Ming, 2025. "Tax incentives for new energy vehicles challenge road infrastructure break-even," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    13. Patrick Bigler & Doina Maria Radulescu, 2022. "Environmental, Redistributive and Revenue Effects of Policies Promoting Fuel Efficient and Electric Vehicles," CESifo Working Paper Series 9645, CESifo.
    14. Chang, Sung-Eun & Woo, JongRoul, 2024. "Are electric vehicle users willing to pay tax for charging electric vehicles? A case study of South Korea," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    15. Sabet, Saba & Farooq, Bilal, 2025. "Exploring the combined effects of major fuel technologies, eco-routing, and eco-driving for sustainable traffic decarbonization in downtown Toronto," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    16. Zhang, Linlin & van Lierop, Dea & Ettema, Dick, 2025. "The effect of electric vehicle use on trip frequency and vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) in the Netherlands," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    17. Edward L. Glaeser & Caitlin S. Gorback & James M. Poterba, 2022. "How Regressive Are Mobility-Related User Fees and Gasoline Taxes?," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 37, pages 1-56, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Yaryna Samusevych & Serhiy Lyeonov & Artem Artyukhov & Volodymyr Martyniuk & Iryna Tenytska & Joanna Wyrwisz & Krystyna Wojciechowska, 2023. "Optimal Design of Transport Tax on the Way to National Security: Balancing Environmental Footprint, Energy Efficiency and Economic Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, January.
    19. Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2023. "The Distributional Impacts of a VMT-Gas Tax Swap," Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(1), pages 4-42.
    20. Cheon, Jiyeon, 2025. "Distributional effects of a vehicle miles traveled tax over the different vehicle efficiency," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:171:y:2025:i:c:p:359-369. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.