Some EV owners in RUC arrears and face fines

Around 12,000 EV owners have failed to register for road user charges (RUCs) and will face a fine. The government deadline was well publicised and has now passed.

EV owners in default will likely be hit with penalties after failing to purchase their first RUC licence.

EVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) became subject to RUC on April 1 this year but owners were given until the end of May to buy a licence. The government’s amnesty period ended a week ago.

Failure to comply means those affected will receive a $200 fine from the police and a 10 per cent penalty on unpaid charges, according to the New Zealand Herald.

The NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi says there was almost 90 per cent compliance with the new rules. RUC licences had been paid for 93,261 vehicles of the 105,105 affected by the policy change.

EVs and PHEVs had previously been exempt from RUCs. However, owners had been forewarned that these vehicles would not be off the hook forever. They must now pre-pay for the distance they’re going to travel, in units of 1000km. The rate for EVs is $76 per 1000km while it’s $38 for PHEVs.

The number failing to buy their first block of charges represents roughly $15 million in lost revenue for the NZTA, on an annualised basis. That’s money missing that could well have gone towards fixing potholes.