Beginning next year, ownership fees for electric vehicles in Kentucky will increase by 5% — in an effort to account for changes in national road maintenance costs.
In the same breath, however, and also beginning next year — separate legislation eliminated ownership fees for hybrid vehicles.
Henceforth, annual ownership fees will be:
+ $126 for electric vehicles
+ $126 for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
+ $63 for electric motorcycles
+ And $0 for hybrid vehicles
This decision stems from actions taken in the 2023 General Assembly, in which electric vehicle and motorcycle ownership fees made sure road construction and maintenance costs were “shared fairly” between EV and gas-vehicle drivers.
All fees are subject to annual adjustment, based upon a percentage change in the quarterly National Highway Construction Cost Index 2.0, from current year to previous year.
The January-March 2024 quarterly rate was 3.1908, while the January-March 2023 quarterly rate was 2.843. That’s a 12% increase in costs, however, 5% is the maximum annual increase allowed by law.
All of these fees are directed to the state’s Road Fund, which pays for road construction, maintenance, engineering, planning and research — as well as administrative functions to keep the Kentucky transportation network moving.
Starting in January 2025, the EV ownership fee will be included on the vehicle renewal reminder notice and integrated with Kentucky Automated Vehicle Information System.
Currently, Kentucky has 132,194 registered hybrid electric vehicles, 19,647 electric vehicles, 9,187 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and 197 electric motorcycles.
