$1000/year to drive your EV: Road user charges for electric vehicles from April 1

Transport Minister Simeon Brown confirmed the new Road Users Charges and Kiwis are rushing to get an EV before the clean car rebate is scrapped on December 31st 2024.
It will soon cost close to $1000 per year to drive your Tesla or Nissan Leaf.
Electric vehicles will lose their long-time exemption from road user charges (RUCs) on April 1, Transport Minister Simeon Brown confirmed this afternoon.
EV owners will be charged $76 per 1000km (the same rate applied to diesel cars), plus admin fees of $12.44 (online) or $13.71 (over the counter) when you pre-pay for a block of 1000km or more (see bullet points below for the mechanics of the new system).
The AA says the average motorist drives 12,000km per year, which equates to $912 in RUCs, not including admin fees.
“This transition to RUC is about fairness and equity. It will ensure that all road users are contributing to the upkeep and maintenance of our roads, irrespective of the type of vehicle they choose to drive,” Brown said.The previous National government exempted EVs from RUCs to encourage uptake. “This exemption was always intended to end when EVs hit around 2 per cent of the light vehicle fleet and we’re now at that point,” Brown said.
Both the AA and the MIA (Motor Industry Association) had raised fears of “double dipping” by the Crown in the case of plug-in hybrids (or PHEVs) – which could potentially be charged both RUCs and petrol tax.
Brown said that concern had been addressed by a lower RUC rate for PHEVs, whose owners will pay $53 per 1000km. The partial rate assumes that, on average, a plug-in hybrid will consume petrol at a rate of just under three litres per 100km. It will shake out to $636 per year using the AA’s average driver stat.
The outgoing Labour Government set March 31, 2024, as the final day of the exemption. Brown said today that he would stick to that date.
Both of the major parties are aware that around $4 billion in revenue is generated each year by RUCs and petrol tax – with around half of that from the latter.
If EVs maintained their RUC exemption as NZ’s fleet electrifies, the Crown would be left with a $2b hole in its books.
Only light EVs (those weighing 3500kg or less) are losing their RUC exemption. Heavy electric vehicles will be hit by RUCs from December 31, 2025.
The imposition of RUCs represents the other boot dropping for EV sellers.
The first was the elimination of the Clean Car Discount – and the associated “ute tax” on December 31.-courtesy NZ herald