The Maryland Legislature is currently considering a bill that would levy a fee on all electric vehicle purchases intended to fund a program advertising EV affordability.
The bill, currently in the Maryland State Senate, would establish affordability funds concerning solar energy, energy storage, and “zero-emission” vehicles. To fund the accounts, it would apply surcharges on the three listed technologies to generate revenue.
“The sales of solar photovoltaic modules would be surcharged at $0.02 per watt of generating capacity,” The Daily Caller’s Sean Hustedde writes. “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 advisory councils would be able to adjust the rates every two years in accordance with inflation. Council members would be compensated and reimbursed for travel related to work on the advisory bodies.
“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 fourth quarter of 2025, citing lower than expected demand for electric vehicles as a factor in the loss.”
Read the full story in the Daily Caller.
