REP. FREY PUSHES FOR LEGAL NEIGHBORHOOD ELECTRIC CARS IN CONNECTICUT
RIDGEFIELD- State Representative John Frey, R-111th District submitted testimony to legalize neighborhood electric cars in Connecticut. The proposal received a public hearing in the Transportation Committee on February 24th.
Ridgefielder and neighborhood electric car owner John Papa also testified in favor of the bill legalizing these vehicles. Currently, 40 states have laws allowing low speed vehicles to be operated on some roads.
“It is my hope that Connecticut will join the other 40 states in permitting these cost efficient, energy friendly vehicles to be operated with limited use,” said Frey.
“These neighborhood electric vehicles are considered more convenient vehicles to use, relatively inexpensive to operate, cost less to purchase, and, if electrically powered, do not produce the pollutants associated with vehicles powered by internal combustion engines,” said Frey, in written testimony .
Neighborhood electric vehicles are typically powered by electric batteries and are recharged by plugging them into a standard electrical outlet. The typical recharge period is six to eight hours according to some manufacturers. This feature makes them relatively cheap to operate when compared to gasoline-powered vehicles because they are drawing their power from the commercial power grid.
According to statistics compiled by the federal Energy Information Administration, the average retail price of electricity in Connecticut for residential users in April 2008 was 19. 4 cents per kilowatt hour. For purposes of this illustration we will assume a cost per gallon of gasoline to be $ 3. 50. According to its website, Global Electric Motorcars (GEM)-a well known manufacturer of neighborhood electric vehicles-asserts that the comparative annual costs of “fuel” for its vehicles for usage of 125 miles per week would be $ 252 compared to $ 843 for a gasoline-powered compact vehicle getting 27 miles per gallon based on these rates.
Although there is variation among manufacturers and models, neighborhood electric vehicles typically cost less to purchase new than the standard types of motor vehicles. For example, according to its website, prices for the various models made by Global Electric Motorcars range from $ 6,795 for its basic two-passenger model to $ 17,495 for its six-passenger “special edition” model. Its four-passenger basic model starts at $ 9,695.
“John Papa’s vehicle, which is registered in New York, draws a lot of attention in Ridgefield. I have had many, many constituents inquire about it and suggest that if they were legal, they would also be interested in purchasing and using a similar vehicle”, concluded Frey.
Rep. Frey, House Republican Whip, serves the 111th Assembly District of Ridgefield in the state House of Representatives.
One Response to “REP. FREY PUSHES FOR LEGAL NEIGHBORHOOD ELECTRIC CARS IN CONNECTICUT”
Dear John:
When is enough enough? I am a commercial Real Estate agent. Our industry is already being decimated by the faltering economy, lack of financing for properties we sell, and the CONVEYANCE TAX imposed by the State (which was promised to sunset but was extended in 2005 and 2007). Now, ACCORDING TO HB 6349 the legislature wishes to enact more fees yet again. If lawmakers at the capitol would actually care to ASK what these taxes have done to our industry, they would hear the following:
Commercial Agents get paid for a service in arrears not in advance and take extraordinary RISKS with their time to deliver value to either the SELLER/BUYER or LANDLORD/TENANT. We do not charge hourly fees and many of our transactions take 2-5 years to close and are conditional TO THE VERY END. In other words, a tax now will likely WIPE OUT most if not all COMMISSIONS for the previous two years once the affected principals discover their COSTS are going up.
COSTS to the principal will increase as a result of additional taxes. Simply explained, Brokers will attempt to pass the TAX along to the principal. The Principal will in turn will refuse to pay and walk away from the transaction or take it out of the BROKER COMMISSION. This is not fantasy; this is the way it happens in the commercial world. We, as brokers have limited leverage against the principals because they are PAYING THE COMMISSION. This is not your intended result I am sure but it appears that lawmakers do not see the unintended consequences of raising TARGETED taxes.
SALES transactions are already suffering due to the increased CONVEYANCE TAX EXTENDED FOR A SECOND TIME IN 2007.
With our industry in the greatest contraction since 1990 and sales activity at 40 year lows, how is additional tax justified?
Regards,
Kyle Ely
Comment made on March 28th, 2009 at 3:55 pmGoodfellow Ashmore Commercial RE
2A Ives St.
Danbury, CT 06810
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