Subj : Proposed road user charges for plug-in hybrids lowered
To   : All
From : News Person
Date : Tue Mar 19 2024 01:18 pm

The Government has announced it will impose lower road user charges on
plug-in hybrids than previously planned.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown said this morning that Cabinet has agreed to
a reduced rate after the new charges were first proposed in January.

It comes after an apparent mix-up over a proposed amendment among Government
MPs at Parliament's transport select committee last week.

The Government's initial proposed rate for plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) would've
been $53 per 1000km. However, that has now been reduced to $38 per 1000km.

Brown said today: "I asked the select committee to test the Government's
earlier decision to set the discount for PHEVs from the full road user
charges at 30%.

"The Government has agreed this should go further given there are a range of
PHEVs with a range of fuel efficiencies."

He continued: "Having a reduced road user charges rate for PHEVs recognises
that these vehicles use both petrol and have a battery to power the vehicle.

"This change seeks to balance the need for these vehicles to fairly pay for
the use of the road and the variable range of fuel efficiencies within PHEVs.

"Not having a reduced rate would mean they would be required to pay a full
road user charges rate and then claim back any petrol excise used which would
have been administratively difficult and open to fraud."

The decision comes after Parliament's transport select committee recommended
the $38 per 1000km rate, a proposal first introduced by Labour members on the
committee.

It appeared the Labour amendment was voted in by Government MPs accidentally,
the New Zealand Herald reports.

Transport select committee chairperson Andy Foster told the Herald last week:
"We asked to fix it when we realised we got that wrong, [but] Labour denied
that."

Concerns had been raised by the motoring industry that the original proposed
rate would discourage the uptake of new plug-in hybrids.

The Transport Minister said today the reduced rate would be a "temporary
measure to lessen distortions while we get to work on transitioning the
entire vehicle fleet to the road user charges system and away from fuel
excise."

"Currently there is variability in what different vehicles pay in the RUC and
fuel excise duty system as highlighted by this issue.

"Increased fuel efficiency of vehicles, and the rise of electric vehicles,
hybrids, and PHEVs, has created variances in what motorists pay for use of
the road.

"This has meant that less fuel-efficient vehicles, often owned by low-income
households, end up paying more in fuel excise duty than owners of later
model, more fuel-efficient, vehicles.

"The ACT-National coalition agreement commits the Coalition Government to
introduce road user charges for all vehicles so that all motorists pay the
same amount to use the road based on distance and weight, rather than what
type of fuel powers their vehicle's engine."

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A44 2020/02/04 (Windows/64)
 * Origin: S.W.A.T.S BBS Telnet swatsbbs.ddns.net:2323 (63:10/102)

.