Think your EV will cost less than a gas car? Then the first registration renewal arrives. And there's an extra line item you never saw before.

It's called an EV surcharge, or an EV registration fee. Dozens of states charge it now, and more join the list every year. It replaces the gas tax money you no longer pay at the pump. It can add $50 to $200 or more to your yearly bill.

The logic is simple. Gas taxes pay for roads. EVs don't buy gas, so they don't pay that tax. States still want their road money. So they tack a flat fee onto your registration.

Here's the problem. The fee is all over the map.

Some states charge around $50 a year. Others charge $200 or more. A few hit plug-in hybrids with an extra fee too. Some states still charge nothing extra at all.

That spread changes the math on owning an EV. One state can charge you four times what the next state over charges. Over five years of ownership, that gap turns into real money.

Here's what surprised me most.…