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RALEIGH, N.C. — Owners of the nearly 1,600 all-electric vehicles registered in North Carolina and newly-registered all-electrics will be required to pay a $100 annual fee starting this month.

The fee is in addition to other required registration fees.

Registration renewals due during January are expected to affect the first 146 vehicles in this group.

State officials said that owners of all-electric vehicles are being billed because they do not otherwise pay taxes for road use and maintenance.

The owners of vehicles fueled by gasoline pay for road upkeep through gas taxes metered at each fill-up.

According to legislation passed by the N.C. General Assembly in July, owners of “a plug-in electric vehicle that is not a low-speed vehicle and that does not rely on a nonelectric source of power” are required to pay the new fee when they are titled and registered or renewing their registration.