Source: U.S. Federal Department of Transportation Other contributors to the problem The problem extends beyond the popularity of electric cars, though. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Chris Murphy (D- Conn.) have proposed in a bill that would raise the gas tax 12 cents over the next two years and include annual adjustments for inflation. Even the 2008 financial crash has been proposed as a reason that millennials (those born from around 1980 to 2000) are buying cars in far lower numbers than young people in the past have -- they can't afford them.