Gas prices definitely increased and the state definitely should not have said there would be a negligible effect. However, gas price increases are not necessarily a bad thing since we want to move away from it. What would have helped is giving a tax rebate for poor people in rural areas and also maybe getting rid of the EV tab fee. We have started an instant EV rebate for families making under $94k which can help some families afford a used Bolt but the added tax is still a shitty additional expense for poor rural people. A straight tax refund would eliminate the income effect of the additional cost.
I look at a graph of gasoline prices for WA state, and a national one:
and it looks like somewhere around a $0.10/gallon higher premium on WA state gasoline as compared with the country as a whole. That’s a pretty negligible effect.
Gas prices definitely increased and the state definitely should not have said there would be a negligible effect. However, gas price increases are not necessarily a bad thing since we want to move away from it. What would have helped is giving a tax rebate for poor people in rural areas and also maybe getting rid of the EV tab fee. We have started an instant EV rebate for families making under $94k which can help some families afford a used Bolt but the added tax is still a shitty additional expense for poor rural people. A straight tax refund would eliminate the income effect of the additional cost.
I look at a graph of gasoline prices for WA state, and a national one:
and it looks like somewhere around a $0.10/gallon higher premium on WA state gasoline as compared with the country as a whole. That’s a pretty negligible effect.