Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill
Electric vehicles (EVs) in New Zealand had been free from road user charges (a distance-based fee for using roads) since 2009. That free period ended on 31 March 2024. This bill formally ends that exemption, sets up a two-month settling-in period so EV owners can get their paperwork sorted without being fined, sets a slightly lower road fee for plug-in hybrid vehicles (which also pay petrol tax), and keeps very light electric vehicles like electric motorbikes free from the charge altogether.
What this affects
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EV owners will now have to pay a per-kilometre road fee, with plug-in hybrid owners paying a slightly reduced rate to account for petrol tax they already pay.
clause 15 would amend the Road User Charges (Rates) Regulations 2015 to set the reduced RUC rate for plug-in hybrid EVs at $53 per 1,000 kilometres, a 30 percent discount from the standard light RUC vehicle rate
The bill would exclude very light EVs (weighing one tonne or less, which includes vehicles like electric motorcycles) from RUC
This Act comes into force on 1 April 2024
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Transport and Infrastructure Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 6 March 2024.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.