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The day that all EV owners knew was coming is here on April 1 – that is the day electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) start paying Road User Charges (RUC).
While light vehicles that are capable of charging their batteries from an external source (that’s EVs and PHEVs) have been exempt from RUCs, that ends at the start of April this year and all electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles must have a valid RUC licence.
This, of course, doesn’t include hybrid vehicles, as they only charge their batteries via their petrol engine – it only includes vehicles with a plug.
Here’s what you need to know about the changes if you own an EV or a PHEV.
What’s changing?
From the start of April this year EV and PHEV owners must buy a RUC licence and display it on their windscreens, just as road-going diesel vehicles have done for some time now.
While most New Zealand road users contribute to our roading network’s upkeep in some way, there are actually two different ways this happens: drivers of petrol-powered cars pay via a fuel excise duty (or in other words, a levy included in the price of petrol at the pump), while drivers of diesel-powered vehicles pay distance-based Road User Charges.
This meant that EV drivers paid nothing towards the upkeep of our national roading system, while PHEV drivers paid a disproportionately small amount via the fuel excise duty. This was because back in 2009 the Government made plug-in vehicles exempt from RUCs to encourage uptake until EVs made up around 2 per cent of New Zealand’s light vehicle fleet.
This point has now been reached and there are around 100,000 light EVs on our roads, so the Government has decided to end the exemption, meaning that all vehicles on our roads from April 1 will contribute to their upkeep.
How much will I pay?
EVs will be charged at the same rate as light diesel vehicles (which are vehicles with two axles under 3.5 tonnes, like a ute), which is $76 per 1000km. Because PHEVs already contribute via the fuel excise duty on the petrol they use, the RUC rate will be lower; $53 per 1000km.
This means that for an average distance travelled of 11,000 kms per year an EV owner will pay $836 in RUC, while a PHEV owner using an average of 2.86l/100km would pay $253 in fuel excise duty and $583 in RUC.
Drivers should note that RUC licences are purchased in 1000km lots, and an admin fee is also payable at the time of purchase. The admin fee covers things like processing, printing, and mailing, and depends on how you purchase your RUC licence. If you do it online it will cost $12.44, while if you do it in person at a sales agent, it will cost $13.71.
How do I buy a RUC licence?
RUCs are essentially like a pre-paid mobile phone contract and paying for your data in advance – you need to pay for the distance you are going to travel (in units of 1000km) ahead of the time you actually travel them.
A RUC licence can be purchased online on the NZTA website or in person through an NZTA agent, which includes Vehicle Inspection New Zealand (VINZ) and Vehicle Testing New Zealand (VTNZ) locations, as well as Automobile Association (AA) and NZ Post PostShop locations. You can buy up to six licences at a time.
EV and PHEV owners can only buy their licence from April 1, 2024 (which is a public holiday, but online purchases can still be carried out) and there is a two-month transition period to allow time for people to get registered in the RUC system without being penalised for unpaid RUC. This means owners have until the May 31, 2024, to buy their first licence.
The first time you buy a RUC licence you will need to give your car’s odometer reading – if you give an inaccurate odometer reading, it is likely to be picked up at the vehicle’s next WOF and you could be invoiced for any difference.
What do I do next?
Once you have paid for your licence you will receive your RUC label, either in the mail if you purchased it online, or immediately if you do it in person.
The RUC licence label looks a lot like your car’s registration label and will need to be displayed on the windscreen in a similar way – on the inside of the windscreen on the passenger’s side of the vehicle, with the side of the licence showing the plate number visible from outside the vehicle.
Then you are good to go – be sure to keep an eye on your mileage and grab some more before you run out! *See more at nzta.govt.nz/ruc-ev