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The New Hampshire House has approved a plan to charge a sliding fee to vehicles based on their efficiency, starting with those that get as little as 21 mpg, to compensate for paying less gasoline tax.

The bill passed Thursday, 168-152, on a roll call vote.

It would charge electric vehicles an extra $111 a year – the gasoline tax paid by a 20 mpg vehicle that travels 10,000 miles a year. It would charge hybrid vehicles, which use both electric and gasoline engines, less than that on a sliding fee that is based on their EPA estimated mileage from “more than 50 mpg” down to 20 mpg. Vehicles getting less than 20 mpg would pay nothing extra.

If passed by the Senate and signed by Gov. Chris Sununu, it would go into effect in June 2019.

Earlier in the session, a proposal to slap a $75 annual fee on hybrid vehicles and $125 fee on electric vehicles failed.

Opponents of extra payments say they penalize vehicle owners who do less damage to the environment while rewarding the owners of more-polluting vehicles.

The bill says implementing the program would cost an estimated $330,000, partly for equipment to connect local registrars’ offices with official EPA mpg ratings.

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