Victoria’s Electric Car Tax “Worst EV Policy in the World”

Dozens of companies and organisations have put their names to an open letter to Victorian Parliament encouraging a vote against an electric vehicle tax in the state.

In November last year, Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas announced plans to introduce a 2.5 cent/km charge applying to electric and other zero-emission vehicles, along with a 2.0 cent/km charge for plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles. A fuel-efficient petrol or diesel car owner only pays around 2.1 cents per kilometre in fuel excise tax.

Under the “ZLEV Road-User Charge” and based on the average distance travelled annually for light passenger vehicles in Victoria, EV owners could forking out $330 a year and plug-in hybrid owners around $260 a year.

Subsequent polling found while many Victorians would like to buy an electric car, taxes on EVs could have an impact on uptake; with 72.1% believing taxes will mean fewer people buy them.

Among the signatories to the open letter are Hyundai, Volkswagen, Uber, the Electric Vehicle Council, Solar Citizens, Environment Victoria and the Australia Institute.

Part of the letter states:

“Most industrialised countries are prioritising incentives for electric vehicles to benefit from cleaner air and new jobs from a growing industry. This new tax means the world’s manufacturers are far less likely to send Victorians their best, most affordable, zero emissions vehicles.”

It points out every other state and territory in Australia has ruled out or delayed plans for a new tax on electric vehicles.

An example is South Australia, which was the first to formally announce plans to introduce an EV tax. The reaction to SA’s plan was such that in March this year, the Marshall Government said it would delay its introduction by a year to allow time to see what happens across the border. It’s probably no coincidence this will likely be after SA’s next state election, and something EV-supporting SA voters may want to keep in mind.

“Ill-Conceived Anomaly of A Tax”

The Australia Institute’s Richie Merzian said penalising EV owners because they don’t pollute the atmosphere is absurd.

Australia has the lowest rate of electric car ownership among developed countries, and if Victoria goes ahead with this it will be the only stand-alone electric vehicle tax in the world.

The Institute says there are a number of things that can be done to change Australia’s standing and an EV road user charge certainly isn’t among them.

“Our research shows that there are a range of policies that support the uptake of EVs which are very popular the public,” said Mr. Merzian. “These include offering loans for electric vehicle purchases, building more charging stations and removing the Luxury Car Tax on zero emissions cars.”

Solar Citizens’ Ellen Roberts says while the Victorian Government is helping households install solar panels through the hugely popular Victorian solar rebate, it should be leading the charge and making it easier for Victorians to invest in cleaner transport.

It’s proposed Victoria’s ZLEV Road-User Charge will come into effect on July 1 this year.

The full open letter (really more an ad) has been published in The Age and can be viewed here.

On a related note, the ABC published a report this week explaining in more detail why EV makers are skipping Australia when releasing their latest models. Michael Bartsch, general manager of Volkswagen Group Australia, is quoted as saying

“We are a Third World dumping ground in terms of automotive technology.”

In relation to Volkswagen signing the open letter, Mr. Bartsch said:

“Volkswagen does not ask for incentives to import zero emission vehicles, rather for the abandonment of such disincentives as this ill-conceived anomaly of a tax.”

Here’s SolarQuotes Founder Finn Peacock’s views on EV taxes:

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Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/victoria-ev-tax-mb1967/