Democrats slap surcharge on electric vehicles to emphasize how affordable they are

A Democrat’s proposed bill in the Maryland State Senate would impose fees on electric vehicles to fund a program advertising their affordability.

Democratic Maryland State Senator Kevin Harris sponsored a bill on February 6 that would establish three separate affordability funds concerning solar photovoltaic module energy, energy storage, and zero-emission vehicles. The bill would apply surcharges on the three listed technologies to generate revenue for the proposed affordability funds.

The sales of solar photovoltaic modules would be surcharged at $0.02 per watt of generating capacity. Energy storage systems have a fee of $5 per kilowatt-hour of storage capacity. All zero-emission vehicles come with a flat fee of $200 per vehicle.

The bill would create an advisory council for each fund. The councils’ responsibilities include directing fund revenue for research, communication, marketing, and educational campaigns aligned with the state’s clean energy goals. The council will also “combat misinformation” related to the three technologies and emphasize their affordability.

The councils can adjust the fee every 2 years “in accordance with inflation and the needs of the council.” The bill limits fee adjustments to be no more than 0.5% of the technologies’ wholesale value or “an amount sufficient enough to pay for the reasonable costs of the council.”

Council members would receive $100 per day for attending a council meeting for a maximum of 36 days, amounting to $3,600 a year.

The bill would allow members to receive reimbursements for travel expenses through the Standard State Travel regulations provided in the state budget.

The Maryland Energy Administration can use up to 5% of the fees deposited into each fund to reimburse the Administration for providing staff to the councils.

Additional revenue for the funds would come from the state budget, interest earnings, and “any other money from any other source accepted for the benefit of the fund.”

The Office of Senator Harris did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

The automotive industry has recently struggled to sell electric vehicles to the consumer market. Ford Motor Company reported its largest quarterly loss since the 2008 financial crisis, losing $11.1 billion in the 2025 fourth quarter, with the company citing lower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles as a factor in the loss.

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