I just updated my Virginia state license plates. I was expecting the usual annual fee of $40.75, but this time there was a "highway use fee" of $31.00 added on. When I asked the DMV clerk why, she shrugged her shoulders and said she didn't know. She suggested I contact the head DMV through Facebook, which I did. They told me that any vehicle rated at better than 25 mpg was being accessed an additional charge, because the state wasn't making as much in sales tax off of the gas being purchased. Supposedly the tax charged at the pump goes towards road improvements and upkeep.
We also own a hybrid, which we've been getting hit for about $60 a year for extra road use tax already. I've never been charged that fee for my Mirage, or any of my Geo Metros in the past.
I guess it's just getting more costly to save the earth and all that now. Lol