Wealthy electric vehicle drivers on watch for road user charge forcing them to 'pay their fair share' as discussions mount

Sky News AU

2 days ago

Wealthy electric vehicle drivers could soon be forced to 'pay their fair share' as discussions of a road-user charge that captures EVs jump into second gear.
The current fuel excise for drivers of vehicles that run off petrol or diesel is 51.6 cents per litre, costing the average household more than $1200 per year.
The funds generally go towards road repair and construction alongside infrastructure.
According to The Australian, Treasurer Jim Chalmers is considering "accelerating work on a modest road-user charge for electric vehicle drivers" as part of major tax reforms.
EV drivers currently dodge the pesky levy, however, this could soon change as leaders across public policy and industry gather to discuss ideas ahead of next week's productivity roundtable.
The discussion, organised by think tank Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, will include former Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas and Turnbull-era urban infrastructure minister Paul Fletcher who are both early advocates of a road-user charge.
The pair of former politicians will join Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton, Transurban CEO Michelle Jablko and managing director of the Australian Automobile Association Micheal Bradley.
Upon news of the discussion about a road user charge, shadow environment minister Dan Tehan on Monday called for further detail about the levy, but generally backed it.
'On principle, everyone should be paying their fair share,' Mr Tehan said on Sky News.
'At the moment, we've got those people, especially in regional and rural areas, who predominantly use petrol and diesel vehicles paying a road user charge and others aren't.
'We need to see the detail from the government. But shouldn't everyone pay their fair share when it comes to using our roads and contributing to making sure that those roads are in a state that they're right to drive on?"
Mr Pallas, whose government imposed a 2.6c per kilometre charge for drivers before it was scrapped by the High Court, said EVs did more damage to roads as they are heavier.
'But there's an environmental plus to electric vehicles. So getting that balance right was key to us,' Mr Pallas said.
'The way we figured it, (a road-user charge) came in about half of the equivalent costs of fuel excise and that's not counting the incentives the state was putting into the ­vehicle purchase or registration for low-emissions vehicles.'
A road user charge would force wealthy Australians with deep pockets to contribute towards the quality of the nation's roads.
Some of the cheapest new Tesla models cost shoppers almost $60,000 while Audi EVs start from about $100,000 and cheap BMWs are about $80,000.
The cheapest new EVs in Australia are about $32,000, however, most vehicles start from at least $60,000.
In June, Mr Chalmers said the Albanese Government was looking to work with various state and territories 'on the future of road user charging'.
'Now all of this represents a big agenda on the supply side of our economy. And none of these reforms are simple,' Mr Chalmers told the National Press Club at the time.
'All of them require sustained collective effort and they'll take time to show up in the data.'
The Productivity Commission's report issued last week also called for a national road user charge that would force EV drivers to contribute to road maintenance.
'Road infrastructure should be funded through user charges (prices) that reflect the efficient cost of providing and maintaining that infrastructure,' the PC report said.
'By giving drivers a clear signal about the cost of infrastructure, they would have an incentive to use it more efficiently.
'Moreover, there will be a signal to infrastructure providers where changes in road capacity are warranted.'
New Zealand has already unveiled plans to scrap the fuel excise and instead have all light vehicles, including petrol, diesel, electric and hybrid, pay a levy based on distance travelled and the weight of the vehicle.