Having grown up here, collectively we call anything east of the cascades “eastern Washington” because the cascades provide such a clear cultural and climatological divide. I see Central WA as a subregion of eastern WA, and I genuinely don’t know anybody who really uses the term central WA (unlike in Oregon where Central Oregon is used frequently). That said, where central WA ends and you just have the rest of eastern WA, I’m not sure. I see Highway 97 being the spine of central WA. Ritzville is a likely dividing line between central and eastern, but I could also see that at Moses lake too.

Some big brains down there….

Not universally. Most EVs are sedans and most gas vehicles on the road are SUVs. They weigh about the same.

The more gas you consume, the more you will pay in gas tax. So, if you have an SUV, you’ll end up paying more. If you’re a heavy driver (lots of miles), you’ll pay more.

Let’s assume you drive 10,000 miles a year. At 20 mpg (which is generous for an SUV) that’s 500 gallons of gas per year. At $0.49 per gallon tax, that’s $245 dollars per year.

Let’s say you drive 12,000 miles per year at 17 mph (perhaps better assumptions), that’s $345 per year, closer to your estimate.

A Prius driver doing 10,000 miles per year pays $117, less than an EV.

So, perhaps it feels unfair to you because you drive a lot or get low gas mileage. If you drove something more efficient, you would be more in line with the EV surcharge. I think it’s unfair to say that the EV charge is unfair because it doesn’t align with your consumption.

What do you drive?

Ev drivers pay a multi hundred surcharge on their annual tabs to account for that, so they’re paying their share into the system.