The annual tax for my car in California was more than my summer cooling bill in Dallas.
And that's before the fact gas and electricity is routinely 2x more expensive in CA than TX, which energy costs are a large part of the costs of operating a car. If we were to really compare car ownership costs in CA vs TX to the idea of how much I spend on AC, it wouldn't even be close.
Texas's electricity rates are about half of those in California, so 3 summer months' AC costs in Dallas could be notably less, especially for a small/single-person residence.
(And, Calfornia's gas costs about 40% more per gallon than in Texas, due to both taxes & other supply-limiting regulations - which one might reasonably consider an extra tax on having a car in California.)