WKSU Stories

Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Owners Face Higher Registration Fees

Ideastream Public Media | By Carter Adams

Published January 2, 2020 at 10:00 PM EST

A Honda hybrid vehicle sits in a Kent State University parking lot on the university's main campus. Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020.

Ohioans looking to register their hybrid and electric vehicles will see higher fees at the BMV.

Hybrid owners will now pay $100 and electric vehicle owners will pay $200 to register with the state each year.

Registration for vehicles using only fossil fuels is about $35.

The new fees are part of the state transportation budget signed by Gov. Mike DeWine last April.

David Seymour is a sales consultant at Ron Marhofer Nissan and is an electric vehicle owner. He said the fee increase is fair when taking into account the gas tax hike.

“You do certainly have mixed emotions about laying out more money,” Seymour said. “But the contrast to that is I pay very little in actual fuel costs. My car costs quite a bit less to fuel than a typical midsize gasoline car.”

Seymour said due to the already higher costs of hybrids and electric vehicles he doesn’t see the increase discouraging car buyers in Ohio.