Agency explains RUC

The NZ Transport Agency is dishing out advice for owners of light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) after the government confirmed those motorists will soon have to pay road user charges (RUC).

Its action follows the government announcing the previous exemption for such vehicles, which has been in place for nearly 15 years, will end from April 1 this year.

After that date, owners of light EVs and PHEVs will need to buy a RUC licence and display it on their windscreen. 

The licences will be available online through the NZTA website, or in person at an NZTA agent, from April 1. Affected vehicle owners will have until May 31 to buy a licence without risk of penalty.

About charges

NZTA notes that everyone who uses New Zealand’s roads contributes to their upkeep in some way, with most paying through the fuel excise duty applied at the petrol pump. Others, such as owners of diesel vehicles, pay distance-based RUCs.

Fuel excise duty and RUC go towards the National Land Transport Fund, which pays for maintaining and improving the country’s roads.

“EV owners have been exempt from paying RUC since 2009,” the agency adds. “The exemption was put in place until EVs reached around two 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 let the exemption expire.

“The end of the exemption means that EVs owners will contribute to the costs of the transport system in the same way as the owners of other vehicles.”

Cost to owners

When someone buys RUC, they pay ahead of time for the distance they’re going to travel in units of 1,000km.

Light EVs will be charged at a rate of $76 per 1,000km and for PHEVs it will be $53 to recognise owners also pay tax in the price of their petrol.

RUC will apply from April 1 for vehicles powered fully or partly from externally supplied electricity and weighing less than 3.5 tonnes. 

The agency explains hybrid vehicles that can’t plug in to recharge will not have to pay RUC. 

Next steps

NZTA is contacting EV owners this month to notify them of the change, with plans to contact them again in March with more detail on what they need to do and how they can buy their licence.

For more details about RUC for EVs, visit www.nzta.govt.nz/ruc-ev

To find out more about RUC in general, visit www.nzta.govt.nz/about-ruc