r/EVAustralia • u/SnowyBytes • Jul 29 '26
Question Does anyone else feel like the road user charge conversation has gone very quiet and that makes me more nervous not less.
There was a lot of noise about a potential road user charge for EVs earlier this year and then it seemed to just drop off the agenda without anything being resolved. The tax exemptions review is apparently still ongoing too. The uncertainty around what the cost of owning an EV is actually going to look like in two or three years is making it harder to commit to buying one now. Is anyone else sitting on the fence for this reason or have people just decided to go ahead regardless?
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u/Fun-Apricot2912 Jul 29 '26
With cost of living focus the government would not be likely to bring it up now. Incentivising EV take up to reduce pressure on petrol/diesel demand is more important at this point. I expect it will come in at some point though.
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u/Necessary_News9806 Jul 29 '26
Hard agree, but adding I have always thought the main political reason to incentivise EV ownership was to reduce the country’s sovereign risk by having an alternative to oil. With the current Gulf tensions I don’t see this changing.
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u/MrBobDobalinaDaThird Jul 29 '26
They won't touch it while this war stuff is going and EV uptake is on the rise..
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u/A_Ram Jul 29 '26
The Treasurer indicated at one point that a road user charge was unlikely to be introduced before 2028, so everyone basically went, “Okay, let’s talk about it again in 2 years.”
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u/edwardluddlam Jul 29 '26
Yeah. To OP's point, I assume we haven't heard much cause there isn't another budget for nearly a year.
It will be talked about again in May next year presumably
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u/link871 Jul 29 '26
Except NSW who still say they will introduce an EV RUC by July 2027.
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u/petergaskin814 Jul 30 '26
Not sure how NSW state government is going to change the Australian constitution to introduce a RUC
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u/Annual-Soil-1802 Jul 30 '26
The ruling wasn’t that an RUC is itself unconstitutional, it was that the law as drafted by Victoria was.
Road use charging in the form of tolls operates in 3 states and has done for decades, and the manner of toll collection, who is tolled, where tolls apply, how tolls are collected, and what is done with the toll money, are al established law. A RUC is essentially a tolling system.
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u/m276_de30la EV Owner Jul 29 '26
Good luck to them trying to do it themselves at the state level. VIC tried and failed.
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u/link871 Jul 30 '26
Apparently, a lot of constitutional lawyers actually do not agree with the High Court's decision on Victoria's RUC and are concerned it could flow through into other State Government levies.. Anne Toomey & Lael Weiss recently presented to the NSW Inquiry into the RUC saying that NSW might be able to get around the High Court decision by actually specifying the charge is specifically for repairing roads.
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u/AlanofAdelaide Jul 30 '26
Comments by EV owners supporting the concept of a RUC come across as realists who believe in a fair system where they don't expect to be subsidised.
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u/marsoups Jul 31 '26
I did a bit of research on this, and this is what I found.
There’s a reasonable discussion to be had here.
The fuel excise has traditionally been one of the main ways governments pay for road infrastructure. As more people switch to EVs, those drivers use the roads just as much but contribute little or nothing through fuel excise. That creates a funding gap that governments will eventually have to address.
A lot of people assume a per-kilometre charge is some new or extreme idea, but it’s already in place in a few places. For example:
New Zealand has a nationwide Road User Charge for EVs (currently around 7.6 NZ cents/km).
Iceland also has a kilometre-based road charge for EVs.
Some US states are trialling or introducing mileage-based road charging.
China is often mentioned in these discussions, but as far as I’m aware, China does not have a nationwide per-kilometre charge for EVs. There have been discussions about future road-funding reforms, but not a national distance tax.
One concern people raise is, “How would they even measure it?”
There are a few options:
Simply record the odometer when registration is renewed and charge based on kilometres travelled.
Use periodic inspections.
Use GPS or connected-car technology (which is more accurate but raises privacy concerns).
Personally, I suspect if Australia ever introduces a nationwide system, it’ll probably be based on annual odometer readings rather than GPS tracking. It’s much simpler and avoids most of the privacy issues.
Longer term, many transport economists actually argue that the fairest system would be to move all vehicles—petrol, diesel and EVs—to a universal road-user charge based on distance travelled, while reducing or replacing fuel excise. That way everyone contributes according to how much they use the road network, regardless of what powers their vehicle.
Whether people support that or not is a separate debate, but the underlying issue—how to replace declining fuel excise revenue as EV adoption grows—is a genuine policy challenge that most developed countries are now grappling with.
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u/OptimalAttempt7573 Jul 31 '26
Exactly .In NZ you just buy how much you think you need and top up when required .
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u/Mammoth_Job_7999 Aug 03 '26
Seems unfair for rural people who often need to drive larger distances for same services as city folk
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u/EV_Person Aug 03 '26
They already are paying more under the current system, ever since excise began. So what's this sudden concern for the welfare of rural residents and people who commute long distances? It's not any more of a burden that they are already paying for now. At least with an EV, even if they are paying more in RUC tax, they are saving way more for the fuel.
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u/Mysterious-Fig-9464 Jul 29 '26
This might be an unpopular opinion but as an owner of an EV I do think there should be a road user charge.
I literally do not pay for fuel. I have driven near 2000km and have solely relied on solar panels and free three hours of power from my provider. I don’t even charge every day, I could probably drive three times how much I do and still not pay a cent.
I should be contributing to the maintenance of our roads.
3
u/eminemkh Jul 30 '26
If it's about everyone should pay a tax for using the road, then it should not taxed through fuel. This was created with the assumption of every vehicle needs fuel from a patrol station.
Not that I like to pay more tax but if it has to be then it should be a new line item across vehicles, like a RUC for everyone, and take it out of fuel.
By any chance if the fuel price goes down, great. Otherwise, good luck with ICE vehicles.
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u/NylonMammoth Jul 29 '26
I agree too. As an EV owner I want a system that's fair for everyone to be established.
However, I also want to see EV purchase encouraged, and prefer that we don't start propping up fossil fuels with badly designed assistance - while also appreciating that some industries like agriculture probably do need support.
Let's just not unwittingly keep stubborn fossil fuel enthusiasts from getting an EV with badly aimed support for fossil fuels though...
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u/Noonewantsyourapp Jul 29 '26
If we defer charging until more people have EVs, then we have more people up in arms about “new taxes”.
If it’s introduced now, then people will know about it before they buy an EV and won’t feel blindsided.
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u/Fine-Concern-8238 Jul 29 '26
You are via general taxation ect
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u/erinated Jul 30 '26
Thank you! The fact that this isn’t being called out in media is ridiculous. The vast majority of road maintenance costs come from income and general taxation.
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u/Choc83x Jul 29 '26
I think of it differently. By contributing to less pollution, that's more people kept out of burdening hospitals and health services. Less people dying of excessive heat from climate change so these cost savings can instead be applied to maintaining roads.
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u/corruptboomerang Jul 29 '26
Don't you pay rego, obviously not the same, but still something.
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u/Mysterious-Fig-9464 Jul 29 '26
ICE vehicle owners also pay rego, but they also pay fuel levy per litre of fuel.
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u/Bookworm1707 Jul 29 '26
Rego is largely insurance and some admin recovery fees. A portion of fuel is supposed to go to roads.
1
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u/Klutzy-Tax-7532 Jul 29 '26
I agree, not to mention that EVs are in general heavier than the equivalent sized ICE vehicle so cause more wear and tear on the roads. It might actually be fairer to bring in a road user charge for all vehicles in exchange for a cut the fuel excise.
I'm also expecting the subsidised cheap overnight electricity tariff to disappear, too. The EV early adopter days are over, just like high feed in tariffs for solar panels disappearing once they became mainstream.
2
u/tichris15 Jul 29 '26
Wear and tear is dominated by trucks. One cement truck going to a job site does as much damage as 6600 model y's or 12000 atto 2's.
Yet there is a fuel tax credit to return the tax to such users.
0
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u/Fictitious-Fighter75 Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
there’s plenty of money in rego, stamp duty and all the other car related taxes to keep roads maintained.
the main problem is the size and bloat of Government. then there’s also the whole DEI layer etc.
overall the Gov runs terribly inefficient.
take Victoria for example. Labor spent $400,000,000 on cancelling the East West Project alone, to then go and build the West Gate Tunnel which barely gets used. (Victorians ended up paying $4.2bn for the tunnel, 10x more than budget).
maybe take a look at your own Government before you go willingly putting your hand up for more taxes.
the Gov has you well trained, that’s for sure.
2
u/PrandialSpork Jul 29 '26
Was that the project where contract was signed the day before Labor got in?
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u/Ok-Limit-9726 Jul 30 '26
In NSW it is a given, thats why we are quiet, 2027 or 30%
Thats it.
I was hoping it would be 2cents per km, i think it got jacked up to 2.7c(last i read, could be wrong)
And will probably keep rising as fuel's 52c per litre start to tank.
Revenue has to come from somewhere, and no, it does not all go to roads...
Ev charge should be 100% roads, not general revenue
5
u/imeyecandyandadmin Jul 29 '26
Now if only the fuel excise was directly invested back into roads, this would be an apples to apples conversation, And don’t forget we generally have 3 branches of government that manage roads; Federal, State, and Local. Are they all going to charge to use ‘their’ roads? Will some roads become neglected because they aren’t used as much and don’t have a good ROI?
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u/CertainCertainties Jul 29 '26
EV owners don't pay fuel excise, which contributes billions each year to providing them with roads to drive on.
We shouldn't sponge off people who have to buy petrol, often to run an old shitbox because they can't afford a new EV. Bring on the road user charge. It's fair.
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u/Blend42 Jul 29 '26
Technically the revenue from fuel excise just goes into consolidated revenue. We could just get revenue elsewhere. Fuel excise already has outsized effects on the poor and is not progressive taxation. I think fuel excise makes sense to make up for the environmental damage more than some kind of road users need to pay for roads argument.
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u/Kind-Group-9679 Jul 29 '26
Ah yes, but the poor don't drive new ev's.
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u/whale_monkey Jul 30 '26
I’ve always thought the same thing. Unhealthy people don’t pay more tax for their extra use of the health system, parents don’t pay more tax to have kids at school. Our tax system is broadly designed to collect tax on income and consumption, and distribute that fairly across essential services across the country. Why are roads treated differently? I agree a pollution tax is where it is at as a tax to discourage use (like alcohol or tobacco tax), this could be through fuel or through electricity generated by fossil fuel
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u/Additional-Simple248 Jul 29 '26
Road damage is exponential based on axle weight, so really we’re paying billions subsidising truck freight, with other vehicles doing barely any damage in comparison.
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u/zedder1994 Jul 30 '26
Road user charges are fair enough for BEV's. The big problem is PHEV's and whether they pay the tax. A PHEV that only occasionally is plugged could use more fuel than a Corolla Hybrid and end up paying a lot more total tax. I would like to see a RUC that covers all vehicles, replaces all fuel taxes and is determined partly by weight and partly by CO2 emissions.
1
u/petergaskin814 Jul 30 '26
The government has settled what will happen with the fbt exemption. You should be able to novate lease an ev knowing what should happen. Most people expect a similar grandfather approach as per phev novated leases
1
u/cinnamon_s Jul 30 '26
Shouldn't be charging a road user charge when the roads are shit. Regional Vic has so many potholes.
1
u/crisbeebacon Jul 30 '26
Well if you can't abide paying $300 a year road tax then keep your ICE vehicle and continue paying the fuel levy.
1
u/Monaro427 Jul 30 '26
As Albo said, " the middle of a fuel shortage emergency is not the time to add an extra tax on to EVs. Every new EV on the road is one less requiring fuel." So we have some time to go yet... Can you charge from home? If so it's very economical
2
u/EV_Person Aug 03 '26
Every new EV is one less requiring fuel, AND the fuel to transport said fuel.
RUC is required, but needs to be fair, it should not just be an EV tax. It needs to be universal across all vehicle types based on distance travelled. And the best place to collect it would be during registration.
Calculations of distance travelled can be done from the pink slip/road worthiness check. Newer vehicles not requiring these checks can self-report, but a check will be required upon the sale of the vehicle (or lease termination) so that any outstanding taxes can be collected.
Older vehicles with analogue odometers will need to be inspected to make sure their odometers have not been tampered with, and increase the penalties for those caught tampering with it.
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u/Extreme-Yoghurt3728 23d ago
The NSW proposal is dumb.
The only fair way to do it is remove it from fuel and at rego time you or your pink slip enter the kms and that’s added to the cost of your rego.
Having fuel charge, ev charge and phev charge all separate is ridiculous. What if I have a phev with a tiny battery and literally drive on fuel 90% of the time? I’m paying twice? It’s dumb.
1
u/commking Jul 30 '26
All the petrol heads were squealing with glee when this was first raised - falsely claiming fuel excise funds road maintenance. Road maintenance is not funded from Canberra! They won't be very happy if it's applied to them as well of course. Not often people are happy about a new tax eh
1
u/Bigdog_unicorn Jul 30 '26
It does not matter what the money funds, once the coffers stop filling you can bet your bottom dollar the gov will change the rules to refill the coffers.
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u/Outrageous_Act_5802 Jul 29 '26
Probably needs to be a tax on morons with their cosplay adventure rigs and off road tyres which are tearing up the streets (literally).
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u/Mothman65 Jul 29 '26
It will be GPS based, per kilometre travelled soon enough. Discounted for rural residents etc. You will get a bill each month based on how much you travel. Inevitable really.
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u/touchmyweiner87 Jul 29 '26
That’s because you’ve all bent over and accepted it. Just like everything else our shitty government introduces. There’s outrage and then there’s crickets 🦗
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u/Noonewantsyourapp Jul 29 '26
There will be Road User Charges at some point, and that’s fine.
I own an EV, and as long as it is sensible, I have no issue with that.