EV RUC petition to parliament

Philip Naniov of Christchurch is encouraging EV owners and others to sign and circulate his petition to parliament to reduce road user charges (RUC) for EVs to $35/1000km and waive administration charges.

He’s concerned about what he says is a RUC discrepancy between petrol and electric vehicles (EVs) in New Zealand, with the EV RUC due to be introduced April 1, 2024.

”As we move towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly transportation system, it is imperative that we establish fair and equitable policies that encourage the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs),” says Naniov.

”All vehicles must fairly and equitably contribute to the upkeep of our infrastructure,” he says, adding that for similar size the EV RUC should be equal or better than most fuel-efficient petrol vehicles.

“RUC for light EVs is set to become $76 per 1000km as of 1st of April 2024, not accounting for administration fees which could also be a significant, depending on the number of 1000km units purchased at a time.

“At the same time, petrol vehicles will continue to pay RUC as a part of the fuel excise (petrol) to the amount of 70.024 cents per litre of fuel contribution to the National Land Transport Fund,” says Naniov

“This means that the amount of RUC paid by a petrol vehicle will depend on its fuel economy.

“At average petrol price today, for a petrol vehicle to pay the same amount of RUC as an EV would from 1st of April 2024, its average fuel economy will need to be about 10.8 litres/100km. For additional reference, this is equivalent to approximately 9km per litre, or 21 miles per gallon, he says.

“Typical modern petrol vehicles of similar size as predominant light EVs in New Zealand – Nissan Leaf – will have a significantly better fuel economy than 11 litres/100km.

“For the top five small petrol cars, namely Suzuki Swift, Toyota Corolla, Mazda2/Demio, Honda Jazz, and Volkswagen Golf, the average fuel economy is 5.8 litres/100km.

“This means that owners of such vehicles will pay at average $40.61 per 1000km, which is 1.87 times lower than what the owners of a typical similar EV (Nissan Leaf) will have to pay, before the administration fees,” says Naniov.

“Modern petrol vehicles being subject to, in some cases, more than twice lower road user charges compared to EVs of similar size will in essence disincentivise the EV uptake.

“Additionally, after 1st of April 2024, owners of EVs will be penalised for their environmentally responsible choice to drive lower emissions vehicles.”

Naniov is also seeking an MP to present his petition to parliament, urging it to consider measures to equalise RUC between petrol and electric vehicles of similar weight.

“By establishing a fair and consistent framework for road user charges, we can incentivise the adoption of electric vehicles while ensuring that all road users contribute equitably to the maintenance and development of our transportation infrastructure.

“As a guide, I would consider a ‘light EV’ one having an unladen weight of less than 2000kg.”