The Detroit News
March 10, 2026
Beth LeBlanc
Michigan lawmakers are advancing legislation that would impose a per-mile tax on large commercial electric vehicles, a taxing structure that may serve as a test balloon for per-mile fees on other electric vehicles.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday referred the bills out of committee, with some Democratic support, despite misgivings from one of the state’s leading automotive associations. The bills would create a tax on the electricity used by large electric commercial vehicles — such as electric semis and trash haulers — through a formula that calculates the vehicles’ miles traveled in Michigan and applies the 52-cent-per-gallon gas tax based on the average miles-per-gallon equivalent of the electric vehicles.
Glenn Stevens, executive director of MichAuto, an automotive and mobility group affiliated with the Detroit Regional Chamber, acknowledged that stakeholders and lawmakers have long sought a formula to ensure electric vehicles are taxed for their use of public roads. But he contended the proposed solution being advanced by the House isn’t the right one, or that it’s not being considered at the correct time. “We’re just concerned about taxing an emergent technology before it matures,” Stevens said. “We’d like to slow the roll a little bit and work on this collectively.”