Hawaii electric vehicle fee
Hawaii charges $50 a year on an electric car, on top of everything a gas car pays.
How much is the Hawaii EV registration fee?
$50 a year. It sits on top of the ordinary registration.
Hawaii charges electric vehicles $50 a year. Since July 1, 2025 that comes through the Hawaii Road Usage Charge (HiRUC): at renewal an EV owner picks either the flat $50 or $8 per 1,000 miles, capped at $50, with the mileage read at the safety inspection. From July 1, 2028 every EV is moved to the per-mile charge. Hybrids and plug-in hybrids are not part of it. Maui County also charges its own $100 a year on EVs and $50 on hybrids. source 11
| Fuel type | Extra per year |
|---|---|
| Gas or diesel | Nothing |
| Electric | $50 |
What Hawaii's $50 adds up to
A single year of $50 is easy to wave off. Held over the time most people keep a car, the Hawaii charge is not.
| Years owned | Extra paid for driving electric in Hawaii |
|---|---|
| 1 | $50 |
| 3 | $150 |
| 5 | $250 |
| 10 | $500 |
Against that, an electric car pays no fuel tax, which is the whole reason Hawaii charges it. Whether you come out ahead comes down to your mileage: a gas car pays fuel tax on every gallon, so the more you drive, the more the $50 looks like a bargain, and a car that barely leaves the garage pays more than its share.
What the Hawaii charge is for
In Hawaii the charge is $50 a year, on top of whatever the registration itself costs.
The reasoning is the same one every state uses. Roads are paid for out of fuel tax, collected a few cents at a time at the pump, and an electric car uses those roads while buying no fuel. The annual charge stands in for the fuel tax it never pays. More on why states charge it.
Whether the amount is a fair swap is where the states stop agreeing. New Jersey charges $270 and Hawaii charges $50 for the same car doing the same mileage. The reasoning and the full range are set out here.
When you pay it
In Hawaii it is charged from the first registration, so it lands in the bill on the day you buy the car rather than a year later.
The calculator on the Hawaii registration page applies that rule. Set the fuel type to electric and it shows you the figure in place, with everything else itemized around it.
How Hawaii compares
Hawaii is the cheapest of the states that charge anything.
| State | Electric | Plug-in hybrid |
|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | $270 | Not charged |
| Hawaii | $50 | Not charged |
Hawaii shown against the states next to it and the two ends of the range. All 51 side by side on the EV fee by state page.
Questions about the Hawaii EV fee
How much is EV registration in Hawaii?
$50 a year on top of the normal registration.
Why is EV registration so expensive in Hawaii?
Because the fee is meant to replace the fuel tax an electric car does not pay. Hawaii has set that replacement at $50 a year, which is the lowest of the states that charge anything. The states have landed on very different numbers for the same argument.
Do electric cars have higher registration fees than gas cars?
In Hawaii, yes, by $50 a year. Everything else on the bill is the same.
Is there a federal EV registration fee?
No. There is no federal vehicle registration in the United States at all. Registration is run state by state, which is exactly why the charge on an electric car runs from nothing to $270 depending on where you park it.
Is the Hawaii EV fee ever waived?
Not as a general rule. Hawaii DMV publishes the fee as applying to electric vehicles at registration, and we are not aware of a published waiver. If you think an exemption applies to you, ask them directly rather than relying on a calculator.
More on registering a car in Hawaii
The electric vehicle charge is one line on a longer bill. These pages cover the rest for Hawaii:
Other states
See every state's charge on the EV registration fee by state page.
Where these numbers come from
- HRS 249-31, state vehicle registration fee and electric-vehicle surcharge, retrieved 2026-10-17
- HRS 249-33, state vehicle weight tax, retrieved 2026-10-17
- Hawaii Department of Taxation, General Excise Tax (4% plus a 0.5% county surcharge in every county), retrieved 2026-10-17
- Tax Foundation of Hawaii, Motor Vehicle Weight Tax (county ordinances), retrieved 2026-10-17
- City and County of Honolulu, motor vehicle registration (fee breakdown, $367 example, $16 late penalty), retrieved 2026-10-17
- City and County of Honolulu, vehicle ownership transfer ($10 title transfer, $50 penalty after 30 days), retrieved 2026-10-17
- Hawaii Department of Transportation, safety inspection fees from July 1, 2025 ($25.75), retrieved 2026-10-17
- County of Hawaii, out-of-state vehicle permit ($5, 30 days from arrival), retrieved 2026-10-17
- Hawaii Department of Taxation, Form G-27 instructions (motor vehicle use tax and exemptions), retrieved 2026-10-17
- Hawaii Department of Taxation, Tax Announcement 2023-05 (Maui County GET surcharge from January 1, 2024), retrieved 2026-10-17
- City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii Road Usage Charge program, retrieved 2026-10-17
Not affiliated with Hawaii county motor vehicle offices (state Department of Transportation). Several states re-set this figure annually, so check the date above.