EVs, plug-in hybrids to pay road user charges from 1 April
EVs, plug-in hybrids to pay road user charges from 1 April
Owners of light electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids will have to pay road user charges from 1 April, the government has announced.
A few surprises here, namely that PHEVs will pay a lower rate of RUCs, I was under the impression there would be a rebate scheme for petrol purchased.
No revisions to the weight brackets, which I imagine will be necessary before all vehicles eventually go to RUCs.
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I don't know why they don't change it to RUC for every vehicle; get rid of the variable of fuel usage.
If you drive an older car that gets 10l/100km, you pay at least twice the road tax as someone that drives a modern hybrid that is in the 4-6l/100km range. So the road tax is favoring those that can already afford to buy a modern efficient car.
That was a campaign promise, and is part of the coalition agreement between National and Act, as far as I know.
There have been discussions around an E RUC system, which I hope comes through. The existing systems are aimed at companies rather than individuals, and buying RUCs is a pain in the ass.
It isn't too bad; I buy online and the ticket comes in the mail. It could be better (much better) but it isn't too bad.
I see the big issue being the minimum weight of 3.5T; if I'm driving a 1200kg carolla, it is a bit rich saying I'm doing the same damage as a ute / light truck / big van.
If/when the eRUC system gets implemented, there are going to have to be a lot more categories.
- up to 500kg (motorbikes etc...)
- 500 - 1000kg (ki cars)
- 1000 - 1500kg (small city cars)
- 1500 - 2500kg (medium cars)
- 2500 - 3500kg ( large cars / suv etc..)
They will absolutely need to introduce lower levels, I suspect motorcycles may just pay a flat rate at registration time. Buying online isn't too bad, but you do need to check your odometer against your RUCs every so often, and it's easy to end up behind. It's also annoying to have to pay in a big lump every so often rather than as you go with fuel.
I'd love to have an automated system that just charges you every thousand KMs with no action required by me.
That sounds like a nice system, not sure how you would implement it in existing vehicles
Possibly via something that connects to the OBD port?
That would cover most cars on the road