Virginia mileage choice program

[Rick65]

Anyone registered and use this program, this is where you have to pay for mileage used up to a max amount in lieu of no longer paying road taxes via gasoline sales. You have two choices, Telematics where you car reports your mileage near real-time and the use of a plug adapter to report your mileage at some interval. Not reporting your mileages will generate a yearly charge of about $116. If you drive less than 11,600 miles then reporting your mileage will save you money. Note that this is any miles on any road on any state, public or private, today counts. However there is a GPS option that could help filter out mileage outside of Virginia.

Trying to inquire if anyone opted for Telematics or opted for this optional program at all...

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[JRSNoVa]

I'm probably going to come it at around 6000 miles this year, but the $50 savings isn't enough for me to allow real-time tracking of my car.

 

[Roger tobin]

We have the equivalent program in Oregon: OReGO helps preserve and improve Oregon roads. | MyOReGO

 

[UnforAll]

Completely agree with @JRSNoVa that not interested in the OBD real-time tracking of my car. And, if you use the OBD device, you must have the DriveSync app because it is used to capture and send the odometer pictures required at enrollment and renewal thereafter to verify that the total miles driven are correct.

I didn't see anything about a GPS option allowing mileage location filtering. So all miles, anywhere, are included - not just in Virginia.
"Will I be charged for miles driven outside Virginia or on private roads?
Yes. At this time, the Mileage Choice Program does not differentiate between miles driven outside of Virginia or on private roads versus inside Virginia and public roads."

It looks like you can choose to use OEM telematics as your mileage reporting option, you will "only" need to authorize access through your vehicle manufacturer. ("The commercial account manager will send DMV a monthly report containing the number of miles your vehicle was driven. The commercial account manager will not disclose to DMV any location data tied to your personal information unless compelled by a warrant that is part of a valid criminal proceeding.")

 

[methorian]

I commute around 50miles one-way for work - so average around 24,000 miles a year. No savings for me with this program. Even if it did save a little money, not worth it to share my telematics with the state.

 

[Rick65]

Completely agree with @JRSNoVa that not interested in the OBD real-time tracking of my car. And, if you use the OBD device, you must have the DriveSync app because it is used to capture and send the odometer pictures required at enrollment and renewal thereafter to verify that the total miles driven are correct.

I didn't see anything about a GPS option allowing mileage location filtering. So all miles, anywhere, are included - not just in Virginia.
"Will I be charged for miles driven outside Virginia or on private roads?
Yes. At this time, the Mileage Choice Program does not differentiate between miles driven outside of Virginia or on private roads versus inside Virginia and public roads."

It looks like you can choose to use OEM telematics as your mileage reporting option, you will "only" need to authorize access through your vehicle manufacturer. ("The commercial account manager will send DMV a monthly report containing the number of miles your vehicle was driven. The commercial account manager will not disclose to DMV any location data tied to your personal information unless compelled by a warrant that is part of a valid criminal proceeding.")

Thank you for the additional detail... I drive about 6K miles a year, so I will think about it. However if the data is truly anonymous and batched vs real-time, as you explained, so I don't see any issue with it. Virginia already knows how many miles you drive a year as you have to do vehicle inspections. I would however be concerned if they get the GPS data if they move to count only Virginia miles.

 

[21st Century Pony]

With 32k on the odo in less than a year since purchase, I chose to pass on this VA program.

...and I still get notices from VA's RapidPass emissions program for my Ford Fusion, gone since early 2022... so, not sure whether I am confident in the administrative QA of programs where there are "many hands on the tiller".

 

[rreddy3]

Completely agree with @JRSNoVa that not interested in the OBD real-time tracking of my car. And, if you use the OBD device, you must have the DriveSync app because it is used to capture and send the odometer pictures required at enrollment and renewal thereafter to verify that the total miles driven are correct.

I didn't see anything about a GPS option allowing mileage location filtering. So all miles, anywhere, are included - not just in Virginia.
"Will I be charged for miles driven outside Virginia or on private roads?
Yes. At this time, the Mileage Choice Program does not differentiate between miles driven outside of Virginia or on private roads versus inside Virginia and public roads."

It looks like you can choose to use OEM telematics as your mileage reporting option, you will "only" need to authorize access through your vehicle manufacturer. ("The commercial account manager will send DMV a monthly report containing the number of miles your vehicle was driven. The commercial account manager will not disclose to DMV any location data tied to your personal information unless compelled by a warrant that is part of a valid criminal proceeding.")

I am interested in the mechanics of how the Virginia mileage choice program has been implemented after the forms/paperwork part of the process, particularly 'device' vs in vehicle telematics on EVs, if anyone reading this has opted into VA's mileage choice program.

I am very late to the VA Mileage Choice Program/HUF discussion 'party'. I was clued in by a buddy who recently got a Tesla 3 and asked what I was doing with the HUF options. My reply was along the lines of " ... duh ..."

In looking at the VDOT website it still states in FAQs that out of state and private road mileage is included and not zeroed out of our mileage. Doesn't seem right to me, but it is what it is.

Regarding 'device' v OEM telematics VDOT's states,

" The miles you drive will be tracked by the device Emovis sends you to install in your vehicle. The device communicates with Emovis to record the miles you drive. For electric vehicles, the vehicle's telematics system will track the miles driven and transmit the information to Emovis.

When you sign up for the Mileage Choice Program, you have the option to choose a mileage reporting device with or without GPS capability. A non-GPS enabled device will only track the miles you drive, not your location. "

There may be more to this than I am seeing on VDOT's website. But reading this literally suggests to me that with an EV you don't have the 'device' option, that it is done through [OEM] 'vehicle's telematics'. If there is anyone who has opted into the VA mileage choice program, I am curious whether you actually do use a 'device' sent to you or if mileage harvesting is done via OEM telematics. If the later, that begs the question of whether the telematics transmission can be instructed to omit GPS data as VDOT claims can be done with the 'device' approach.

Given my mileage, I'm quite sure I would save quite a bit on the HUF portion of my registration if I opted in. VDOT is calculating my HUF as $128 and change.

 

[RSH]

@rreddy3 I opted into the VA Mileage Choice Program at the end of April. I use the device provided to me through the program to track miles. I opted out of GPS tracking. And yes, based on the info provided by the program, out of state mileage is counted.

 

[rreddy3]

@rreddy3 I opted into the VA Mileage Choice Program at the end of April. I use the device provided to me through the program to track miles. I opted out of GPS tracking. And yes, based on the info provided by the program, out of state mileage is counted.

thanks. Where does the device attach? Obd port? If that’s the case, I guess if you have an obd scanner you just unplug the device when you want to use the scanner. Do you know the oem telematics option includes the gps opt out?

thanks

 

[MachE70]

I can save about $90 per year in Utah's Road Usage Charge program given my 4000 miles/year. I joined last year when Emovis was the vendor to oversee this program for the state. Emovis collected the mileage data through an OBD device in my car. However, the state changed vendors to ETAN last month and they have provided two options for determining mileage: Vehicle telematics or odometer photos. I have been trying to use the telematics option, but there is apparently a bug in using this service through FordPass. I have been working with the state to connect my vehicle telematics for several weeks without success. Here is the last message they sent me: "There is an issue with FordPass blocking the connection of the service to get the mileage from your vehicle."

Has anyone else successfully connected their vehicle telematics through FordPass in one of these state road usage programs? Ford, any comments? Sounds like it might be a hiccup on your end.

 

[RSH]

thanks. Where does the device attach? Obd port? If that’s the case, I guess if you have an obd scanner you just unplug the device when you want to use the scanner. Do you know the oem telematics option includes the gps opt out?

thanks

Yes, attaches using OBD port and can be unplugged if necessary.

 

[rreddy3]

I revisited the VA mileage choice program since my registration on the tags, rolled over from the car I parted with but kept its plates on the MME, is up in October.

I was unable to select the vehicle telemetrics option when attempting to work through the sign-up process. I abandoned that process in favor of calling the help line. The help person had access to more data than I was able to see when she plugged in the last four of the VIN, title #, and DL#. The problem is on the Ford side. I don't know what the exact issue is, simply that Ford EVs are not compatible with the vehicle telemetrics option at this time.

To take advantage of this program in VA at this time if you drive a Ford EV you must use the program's OBD device. That's all well and good unless you have an OBID device and like the Car Scanner app data.

The quick and dirty research I've done finds scores of OBD II splitters for sale. But. Synthesizing the information, my takeaway is a splitter may or may not actually work depending on vehicle and the connected devices, if they work, they may not be consistent in transmitting data to two connected devices. On top of that, VA's contractor, Emovis, won't 'allow' a splitter set up with two devices. It's their device or none.

I suspect if you tried to use a two-device set up Emovis would figure it out based on issues with data transmission from the vehicle, and perhaps they have a way to 'see' there is a second device sharing the main port.

In case anyone is interested the VA BEV HUF for the current reporting year is $128 and change. Divide that by 11,600, to get the mileage choice per mile rate of a little over a penny a mile. If you drive, for example, 5000 miles a year, your mileage choice HUF is about $55. If you drive > 11,600 miles your money ahead to take the $128 rate.

By not taking the mileage choice option I'm leaving some money on the table in exchange for the CarScanner data which I would rather have. The privacy part is a non-issue as far as I am concerned since these cars are talking to the Ford mother ship all the time anyway and the mother ship knows where its baby ships are. And all the data, formerly just referred to as the car's black box, is all discoverable in litigation anyway in the event of an accident or other litigation where vehicle location or dynamics might be an issue.

 

[21st Century Pony]

I revisited the VA mileage choice program since my registration on the tags, rolled over from the car I parted with but kept its plates on the MME, is up in October.

I was unable to select the vehicle telemetrics option when attempting to work through the sign-up process. I abandoned that process in favor of calling the help line. The help person had access to more data than I was able to see when she plugged in the last four of the VIN, title #, and DL#. The problem is on the Ford side. I don't know what the exact issue is, simply that Ford EVs are not compatible with the vehicle telemetrics option at this time.

To take advantage of this program in VA at this time if you drive a Ford EV you must use the program's OBD device. That's all well and good unless you have an OBID device and like the Car Scanner app data.

The quick and dirty research I've done finds scores of OBD II splitters for sale. But. Synthesizing the information, my takeaway is a splitter may or may not actually work depending on vehicle and the connected devices, if they work, they may not be consistent in transmitting data to two connected devices. On top of that, VA's contractor, Emovis, won't 'allow' a splitter set up with two devices. It's their device or none.

I suspect if you tried to use a two-device set up Emovis would figure it out based on issues with data transmission from the vehicle, and perhaps they have a way to 'see' there is a second device sharing the main port.

In case anyone is interested the VA BEV HUF for the current reporting year is $128 and change. Divide that by 11,600, to get the mileage choice per mile rate of a little over a penny a mile. If you drive, for example, 5000 miles a year, your mileage choice HUF is about $55. If you drive > 11,600 miles your money ahead to take the $128 rate.

By not taking the mileage choice option I'm leaving some money on the table in exchange for the CarScanner data which I would rather have. The privacy part is a non-issue as far as I am concerned since these cars are talking to the Ford mother ship all the time anyway and the mother ship knows where its baby ships are. And all the data, formerly just referred to as the car's black box, is all discoverable in litigation anyway in the event of an accident or other litigation where vehicle location or dynamics might be an issue.

Yeah I looked at this and based on my (so far) typical annual EV mileage I just couldn't justify it. Especially as a huge percentage of my annual mileage so far is driven out of state.

Thanks for the post!

 

[rreddy3]

FWIW, and for those of you who may have an interest in the VA mileage choice program, I followed up w/ the program manager's customer support and posed the question, 'does the Emovis OBD have to be plugged in at all times?'

Predictably enough, the answer was 'yes'. That is the official position of VDOT and its PM. Can you skirt that and unplug once in a while ... I have no idea. Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps some of you have real world experience one way or the other.

If the car is stationary and you're doing some FDRS or Forscan, no mileage capture should be lost so it should be a non-issue in so far as mileage tracking is concerned. But, if their system is smart enough to signal that their device has been unplugged even if the car remains stationary, it could become an issue signaling the fall of western civilization as we know it to EMovis and VDOT.

So, for me, the program is a non-starter unless/until Ford figures out a way to allow its in-car telemetrics to be used to support the program.

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