As more drivers turn to zero-emissions vehicles, which don't have to pay anything at the pump, California's gas tax could soon be a thing of the past. But it would be replaced by something else.
Tire wear is not as standard as you are implying. There are many factors in tire wear including the hardness of the rubber compound. Stickier tires for better steering and braking wear faster than, say, high mileage tires for hybrids to get the best MPG or electric range.
If you’re looking for a perfect metric for road wear that works across all vehicles, you’re not going to find it. A perfect example of this is today’s gas tax. The size of the vehicle, the engine, the amount of cargo being carried, even the wind direction that day all influence the fuel efficiency of the vehicle and would raise and lower the amount of fuel it would consume, yet the static per gallon tax is levied on each gallon regardless of the day or car. So even today’s gas tax doesn’t capture perfectly the usage.
I’d argue a tire tax gets much closer. You left out one piece of info on your tire comparrison. Those tires are rated for different amounts of miles of use, so that could be added as a metric to get a more accurate taxation:
Not looking for perfect, but I’m not finding consistency with this math. I’ve had tire non-alighment related issues this year including a blowout and crunching scenarios doesn’t come up with a tax applicable to road wear.
I ran rumbers on a few cars I have access to ranging from 2100 lbs to 7100 lbs. You can use estimated miles and load rating, but your tax would be worst case scenarios. I also put larger tires on a very light car because the amount it floated on the freeway stock was disconcerting.
Point is, if everyone had to use OEM, it would be a bit more accurate. But the variety in material, application, and availability adds a lot of variable as to make this moot.
My second lightest and second heaviest car in all my family use the same tire.
If you’re looking for a perfect metric for road wear that works across all vehicles, you’re not going to find it. A perfect example of this is today’s gas tax. The size of the vehicle, the engine, the amount of cargo being carried, even the wind direction that day all influence the fuel efficiency of the vehicle and would raise and lower the amount of fuel it would consume, yet the static per gallon tax is levied on each gallon regardless of the day or car. So even today’s gas tax doesn’t capture perfectly the usage.
I’d argue a tire tax gets much closer. You left out one piece of info on your tire comparrison. Those tires are rated for different amounts of miles of use, so that could be added as a metric to get a more accurate taxation:
Not looking for perfect, but I’m not finding consistency with this math. I’ve had tire non-alighment related issues this year including a blowout and crunching scenarios doesn’t come up with a tax applicable to road wear.
I ran rumbers on a few cars I have access to ranging from 2100 lbs to 7100 lbs. You can use estimated miles and load rating, but your tax would be worst case scenarios. I also put larger tires on a very light car because the amount it floated on the freeway stock was disconcerting.
Point is, if everyone had to use OEM, it would be a bit more accurate. But the variety in material, application, and availability adds a lot of variable as to make this moot.
My second lightest and second heaviest car in all my family use the same tire.