As electric vehicles (EVs) gain popularity in New Zealand, a new financial consideration is emerging for EV owners: Road User Charges (RUCs). These charges, initially waived to encourage the adoption of environmentally friendly vehicles, are now a reality that EV drivers must face from April 1st.

Understanding Road User Charges

‍RUCs are fees imposed on vehicles not contributing to fuel excise tax, primarily targeting heavy vehicles and from April 1st 2024, EVs.

These charges are calculated per kilometer and vary based on vehicle types and weights.

For EV owners, who have been exempted from these charges until recently, this is an added cost that can significantly impact their travel expenses.

Driving costs for most EVs will go up by more than double

‍To illustrate the impact of RUCs on EV owners, let's consider a simple scenario: a 34 km daily commute from Upper Hutt to Wellington CBD in a Tesla Model 3, which has an efficiency of roughly 17.6 kWh/100 km.

The cost of electricity for this trip might seem minimal at approximately $2.10 (given a $0.35/kWh average NZ home electricity rate)

However, the addition of RUCs at $2.59 for the same distance, more than doubles the cost of the commute.

This sudden increase can come as a surprise to many EV owners accustomed to lower operational costs.

Roadtrip App: A Solution for Transparency

‍This is where Roadtrip, our fuel cost calculator app, becomes an invaluable tool for EV owners. Unlike traditional vehicles where fuel costs are more predictable, EV owners now need to account for both electricity costs and RUCs.

Roadtrip simplifies this by allowing users to enter their car model (by licence plate or by typing your car model), origin, and destination, calculating the total cost of the trip, including RUCs.

This feature ensures that EV owners can plan their journeys with a clear understanding of the costs involved, avoiding unexpected expenses.

We also launched WhatTheRUC.com this week which is a completely free tool that allows you to simply enter your licence plate and see how much you'd pay in RUCs per year based on average driving of 14,000 km per year.

For EV owners, RUCs will cost $1064 per year – the same as diesel vehicles.

For PHEV (plug in hybrid) owners, RUCs will cost $742 per year.

Regular hybrid drivers will pay no RUCs, along with petrol car owners who pay these taxes whenever they buy petrol from the pump.

To protect user privacy, we send your licence plate data to NZTA and do not store the details you submit.

Try it in your own vehicle at WhatTheRUC.com