Wisconsin EV owners to pay more taxes to recharge on the road in 2025

People who recharge their electric vehicles at public charging stations will pay a new tax in the new year.

Legislators created the new 3 cents per kilowatt tax and Gov. Tony Evers signed it into law earlier this year.

Businesses, including hotels that offer EV chargers, will have to register with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.

In a release, Revenue Secretary-designee David Casey said the new tax will help maintain the state’s roads.

“It will help ensure continued funding for road repairs and construction as Wisconsin drivers increasingly make the switch to electric vehicles, while creating a more equitable system in which all drivers contribute to road maintenance costs,” he said.

Revenue officials said the projected revenue from the new tax is about $3.35 million for 2025 and approximately $3.85 million for 2026, much less than the state’s gas tax provides to the transportation fund.

The tax will not apply to residential EV charging stations.

“That’s where the vast majority of your charging happens. Our day-to-day driving, we are charging in our garage,” said Libby Belden of Verona. She and her husband have owned an electric Rivian pick-up truck for more than a year.

“Really, the impact on a tax is going to be when we are doing our road trips,” she added.  

Belden said paying a tax to charge her electric vehicle will be much less than paying for gas and the state’s tax on the gas.

“I’m not concerned about this tax. I think it’s our duty to figure out ways that if we’re going to continue to switch Americans to driving electric vehicles, we need to make sure we’re still supporting our infrastructure in the way we need to,” she said.

Electric vehicle owners will still pay much less in taxes to recharge compared to people who pay the state’s gas tax. An EV with a battery capacity of 50 kilowatt hours will pay $1.50 to recharge. Meanwhile, the state’s gas tax was 32.9 cents per gallon in 2024, the 20th highest in the nation. The tax to fill a 15-gallon gas tank is almost $5.

Belden said her family hasn’t had a problem finding EV chargers on trips to visit people in Minnesota and Indiana, but Wisconsin needs more chargers up North. The state plans to add more than 50 new fast chargers in 2025.

“I think more companies are catching on to the fact that they have an opportunity to get people’s wallets when they are spending time charging,” she said.

“When we were charging after a Packers game, I went and bought some Christmas decorations in a store that I would not have bought otherwise,” Belden continued. “I think that has more of an impact on your wallet than a 3 cent tax does.”