Let the environmentalists walk,
or ride bicycles.

I wouldn't like a electric car. Gas is not that high in my state.

I think Europe , Paris and places like that need electric cars. People there many can't afford gas.

Hopefully US never gets like that.

A good part of why European gasoline is so expensive is the high taxes levied by each country in order to pay for the large social programs.

I've come to be very wary and careful when people propose taxes, or doing away with taxes.

One of the things I learned from watching how taxes come about, and how various things are funded, is how politics often ends up creating what are really false pictures in peoples' minds, about how things do and don't work.

Especially with taxes. At the time spending programs are launched, it's common for whoever is opposed to the money being spent, to try to stop it, and it's equally common for the people who support the spending, to claim that it will somehow pay for itself, or that the people who most benefit from it, will be the ones who pay for it.

When it comes to road systems, I don't know that the gas taxes are nearly as FUNCTIONALLY tied into the interstate highways and state highways as many people assume.

Here in Virginia, for example, we are still dealing with a political stunt that was pulled, where the property taxes on cars was greatly reduced. The main reason why the tax was onerous, was that it was a lump-sum tax that hit everyone once a year, rather than being taken out a little at a time, like sales taxes. A certain governor and a number of state representatives gained office by focusing on that SINGLE TAX, and ended up winning, and getting the property taxes sharply reduced.

The problem was, that nothing in government is EVER as neat and compartmentalized as the politicians claim it is. The property tax went into the general government funds, so taking it way affected EVERYTHING ELSE in the state negatively.

So I'm just saying, don't assume that the gas taxes are as directly tied to road maintenance as you've been led to believe.

Interesting observation, indianadave4.
Decent assessment, IgorFrankensteen.

Lets consider that using the highway systems is not dependent on gasoline use.
Lets consider that people using electric cars will still need to use the highway system.

So, the highways will still need to be maintained no matter the energy source being used.

Since we all know the taxes collected by a governing body is never ear-marked specifically to the product or service being taxed we all can agree that tax revenue goes into a coffer to be used as that governing body determines.
So, the issue is how do we maintain the levels of tax revenue if the revenue generated by gasoline tax slowly diminishes?
Where can the 'difference' be generated?

Some might say to increase the tax on goods and services currently being taxed. That would work.
Others might say to create a new tax that offsets the diminishing tax source. That too would work.
I think it will be a lil bit of both.

Generators and batteries are heavy.
Roads require more maintenance with heavier vehicles.
Look at weight limits on trucks.
Perhaps, one method of offset could be a tax on vehicle GVW.

I've seen charging stations at a few of the larger, recently built shopping centers where you can plug in your electric car for a fee while you shop. I can see how that service might have a tax on it in the future.

In the short-term, I think it will be off-set by higher gasoline taxes but as gasoline and diesel internal combustion engines are phased out, that revenue will diminish, slowly at first then much more rapidly.

One of the problems with purely electrically driven vehicles is the silence. The quiet operation is a hazard to pedestrians. I can see a noise device being heavily taxed but required on all electric vehicles.
In the near future at least. Already making news...
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/quiet-hybrid-electric-cars-must-make-noise-new-u-s-safety-rule

Registration might also become electric/hybrid variable.
Right now, as far as I know, the power source is not tracked in registration. In the future, it might be tracked.
In the future, gasoline/diesel powered vehicles may have an addition tax unless registered as an antique.

Safety inspections also might have additional fees added concerning power source. There has already been an emissions addition to state inspections. These are additional to safety inspections. Why not a similar fee on electric/hybrid vehicles. They could call it a safety check for short circuits or something?

There's all sorts of ways the state can get tax revenue if they deem it necessary. Plus, the state is all the voting people in that state and voters don't always make the best long term decisions.
Its anybody's guess how they will get the revenue but one thing is sure, as a person, we're not gunna like it.

Definitely interesting to see what comes to pass...Good Topic!