American woman shares bill revealing the hidden costs of owning a PHEV
- US driver shares hidden costs of owning PHEV in America
- She received a $200 EV license plate renewal fee
- She joked that she should ‘throw the whole vehicle away’
Published on Jan 17, 2025 at 5:37 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Jan 20, 2025 at 10:20 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
A TikTok video has gone viral, in which a US PHEV driver shares the hidden costs of owning her car in America.
She was taken by surprise when she received a $200 EV license-plate renewal fee.
The reason? To compensate for lost gas tax revenue.
Understandably, she was less-than-happy about the unexpected bill.
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An unexpected bill
After admittedly not doing her research on what it would cost to renew her plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), Jessica Renee, aka @jess.iereneexo received an additional $200 fee.
“What do you need $200 extra for?” she asked her followers in a video that has been viewed 16.2K times since it was posted on Wednesday.
“What are y’all doing with my license plate to renew them?”
“It ain’t like you’re making me a new one, it ain’t like you’re putting it on or the tags on me – I’m physically doing that.”
She even joked that she should ‘throw the whole vehicle away’.
Hidden costs of PHEV in America
As always, social media had the answers, with comments in the droves informing the TikToker why she’s received the bill.
Some states charge EV owners a ‘fuel fee’ that can be more than $300 to compensate for lost gas tax revenue.
The government uses these gas taxes, which EV users avoid, to fund road maintenance and other road infrastructure costs.
@jess.iereneexo Between the electric bill and now this…throw the whole vehicle away #electricvehicle #chevy #chevyblazer ♬ original sound – JESSICA RENEE
Recently, a hydrogen car owner also revealed the hidden monthly costs that add up to more than the initial car payment.
Some argue EV owners should contribute fairly to infrastructure costs.
While some EV owners accept the fees as a trade-off, critics of the charge compare the fees to incentives for gas-powered cars.
Other hidden costs include the price of insurance for EVs like the Tesla Cybertruck.
One woman claimed that after buying the mega pick-up the price of her insurance quadrupled from her Model 3 insurance in Las Vegas, US.
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
