EV owners won’t be rushing to pay new road user charge

A local electric vehicle advocacy group says that EV owners won’t be rushing to pay the new road user charge (RUC) that came into effect at the start of this month.

As of Monday, 1 April 2024, owners of electric cars are required to fork out $76 for every 1000km driven, the same as diesel-powered vehicles, while plug-in hybrid owners must pay $38.

“It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two per cent of the light vehicle fleet. This has now been met,” said Transport Minister Simeon Brown.

“The passing of this bill was necessary to ensure that EVs and PHEVs would be paying their fair share towards road maintenance, just as other road users do.”

EV owners who have yet to purchase their first road user charge license have until 31 May 2024 to do so, according to the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).

Drive Electric Chair Kirsten Corson says the two-month grace period is something most will be taking advantage of.

“From listening to different EV drivers, I don’t think there’s going to be a stampede to be paying more,” she told 1News.

The Government plans to shift the entire country’s vehicle fleet to a road user charge scheme within the coming years, including petrol vehicles, but an exact timeline has yet to be announced.

“Moving all vehicles into the road user charges system will mean all motorists pay for road maintenance based on the kilometres travelled, rather than the amount of fuel they put in their tanks,” says Brown.