Scrapping RUC and paying Diesel tax at the pump?

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Scrapping RUC and paying Diesel tax at the pump?

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#1997794 17-Apr-2018 13:20

fearandloathing: RUC will be required for electric vehicles, after 2022 https://www.transport.govt.nz/ourwork/climatechange/electric-vehicles/

So will Hybrids have to pay twice, petrol tax and RUC.
Or is it 100% electric only?

maoriboy

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#1997797 17-Apr-2018 13:27

Hybrids will only have to pay once (petrol). From my understanding of the electric vehicle RUC exemption (when I worked at NZTA), the 2022 date was merely a placeholder with the RUC exemption to be reviewed prior to that date. There was nothing definitively stating that they would start paying RUC.

sbiddle

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#1997800 17-Apr-2018 13:29

The RUC system will need to be upgraded for electric vehicles when Labour finally decide to charge electric vehicle owners. They decided to defer that for another year.

I'm not sure whether changing the way diesel works in light of that would make sense.

mattwnz

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#1997824 17-Apr-2018 13:55

Road user charges IMO work fairly well, and that is coming from someone who has owned a diesel vehicle. So it will be a good option IMO for electric vehicles, so they don't get a free ride. But it probably needs to integrate technology better, such as more automated ways of tracking peoples distance, and automatically charging as the mileage is done, rather than being pay in advance.

Coil

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#1997834 17-Apr-2018 14:15

Pretty sure this horse was beaten well dead 6 months ago..
As someone who works for a company that sells an Electric Hubo solution and retails RUC the way we currently have it is suitable.

Diesel vehicles are taxed based on the damage they do to the roads. Light Diesels work out relatively close or cheaper than petrol vehicles. EV's will work fine with a L distance label and I think that is fair.

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pom532

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#1997846 17-Apr-2018 14:36

If someone was to use an electric heavy vehicle (such as Tesla's semi), would it be exempt from RUC? I assume the damage to the roads would be similar to those currently on the road.

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#1997857 17-Apr-2018 14:56

Put RUC on petrol vehicles and be done with it. Would make waterskiing a bit cheaper.

Fred99

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#1997896 17-Apr-2018 15:14

pom532:

If someone was to use an electric heavy vehicle (such as Tesla's semi), would it be exempt from RUC? I assume the damage to the roads would be similar to those currently on the road.

Yup - I'm pretty sure that there is a new exemption for electric heavy vehicles - until they make up 2% of the national fleet.

MikeAqua

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#1997961 17-Apr-2018 16:21

Seems unreasonable for a coastal ship or a diesel train to pay road user charges at the pump when it is entirely incapable of using the road.

RUC is what it says on the box. It's a road use tax - not a pollution disincentive tax.

A disincentive won't discourage anything, if economically viable alternatives don't exist.

There have to be alternatives. At the moment here isn't even an affordable alternative for a large diesel SUV available in NZ. Let alone large trucks, trains and boats.

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#1997963 17-Apr-2018 16:26

JimmyH:

I thought the logic was that most petrol excise was to pay for roading, and most petrol (with the exception of farm vehicles) was consumed be cars on the road. So it's easiest to just charge excise on petrol 91 and 95 octane, and except the small anomaly of lawnmowers and generators as inconsequential. The major gaps are dealt with by:

providing non-taxed yellow petrol for farm vehicles and other bona fide off-road users, and
not taxing 100 octane as it's mainly for aircraft (although I understand you have to pay RUC like a diesel vehicle if you have a european sports car and put 100 octane petrol in it).
Diesel is different. Most diesel is consumed by vehicles that pay differential RUC rates because of weight (heave trucks do more damage to the road than light vehicles), and non road users like farm vehicles and fishing vessels. That being the case, it's just too complex to simply tax the fuel.

Can you buy 100 octane here? The closest I have seen is the $2.29/l 98 that our BP sells in the village.

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#1997996 17-Apr-2018 17:54

Geektastic:

JimmyH:

I thought the logic was that most petrol excise was to pay for roading, and most petrol (with the exception of farm vehicles) was consumed be cars on the road. So it's easiest to just charge excise on petrol 91 and 95 octane, and except the small anomaly of lawnmowers and generators as inconsequential. The major gaps are dealt with by:

providing non-taxed yellow petrol for farm vehicles and other bona fide off-road users, and
not taxing 100 octane as it's mainly for aircraft (although I understand you have to pay RUC like a diesel vehicle if you have a european sports car and put 100 octane petrol in it).
Diesel is different. Most diesel is consumed by vehicles that pay differential RUC rates because of weight (heave trucks do more damage to the road than light vehicles), and non road users like farm vehicles and fishing vessels. That being the case, it's just too complex to simply tax the fuel.

Can you buy 100 octane here? The closest I have seen is the $2.29/l 98 that our BP sells in the village.

you used to be able to get 100 octrane a few places but you can get Gull Force Pro which is E85 which is about 110 octane.

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#1998007 17-Apr-2018 18:27

As the owner of a light diesel SUV that runs at less than 5L/100km on the motorway I'd be happy to pay at the pump. Pretty sure it would work out cheaper for me.

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#1998016 17-Apr-2018 18:50

Senecio:

As the owner of a light diesel SUV that runs at less than 5L/100km on the motorway I'd be happy to pay at the pump. Pretty sure it would work out cheaper for me.

and reduce your admin, of having to remember to buy road users at whatever kms you're up to (as the owner of a 3l diesel)

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RunningMan

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#1998018 17-Apr-2018 18:51

Geektastic:

Can you buy 100 octane here? The closest I have seen is the $2.29/l 98 that our BP sells in the village.

Yes, but it is leaded - for aviation and/or motorsport use.

scuwp

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#1998020 17-Apr-2018 18:58

RUC was last reviewed in 2012. Considering that more than 60% of diesel does NOT get used in road vehicles the administration and systems needed to refund the largest proportion of diesel use off road and in industry was considered to great, in cost and complexity, so taxing at source was discounted as a viable option.

Different coloured fuels and other overseas options were researched and discounted, in fact overseas jurisdictions were envious of our RUC system.

Who knows with labour, but if the past research carries through I can’t see the system changing anytime soon.

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