Two-year RUC exemption sought for freshly registered EVs

New and secondhand imported EVs that are freshly registered should be able to claim a two-year road user charge (RUC) exemption.

That would encourage EV uptake, says Christchurch’s EV City owner Dave Boot, who says he has made the suggestion to transport minister Simeon Brown and EV advocacy group Drive Electric – among others.

Boot reckons a two-year RUC stay is a simple and effective way of making EVs cheaper now the Clean Car Discount (CCD) EV rebate has been dumped.

The RUC exemption will also encourage EV uptake which is likely to remain low in the next few months, particularly with the cost-of-living causing hardship, Boot says.

He says his RUC exemption proposal is simpler and easier for people to operate and understand than some other proposals such as fringe benefit tax (FBT) exemptions.