Majority of Australians say electric car drivers must pay their way

Australians overwhelmingly support electric vehicle drivers paying for road construction and maintenance.

The Australian Automobile Association has released research showing 80 per cent of Australians want green vehicle owners to contribute to transport costs.

Australians overwhelmingly support electric vehicle drivers paying for road construction and maintenance, as federal and state governments consider new tax models in response to plunging fuel excise revenue.

The Australian Automobile Association, representing the ­nation’s peak motoring bodies ­including the NRMA and RACQ, has released research showing 80 per cent of Australians want green vehicle owners to contribute to transport costs.

Ahead of the Morrison government releasing its Future Fuels strategy before the end of the year, outlining long-term commonwealth support for electric vehicles, business fleets and charging infrastructure, the AAA surveyed 4512 Australians, testing their sentiment on road-user charges.

The survey revealed 46.7 per cent of respondents believed electric vehicle drivers should pay an equivalent to fuel excise (42.3c per litre), 13.1 per cent supported no charges and 31.4 per cent backed a rate lower than fuel excise.

If electric vehicle users were ­required to pay road-user charges, 78.1 per cent said it should be at a rate that “does not discourage their uptake”.

The Weekend Australian understands Treasury is considering new models supporting a fit-for-purpose approach to plug reductions in fuel excise as car manufacturers shift their business models to electric, hydrogen and hybrid vehicles. For the first time, the federal government is forecasting that in 2022-23 it will need to spend the entirety of the $12.7bn raised from net fuel excise on land transport spending.

AAA managing director Michael Bradley said there was “overwhelming support to bring EVs into our tax system”, even at a discounted rate. The AAA commissioned the survey after South Australia and NSW moved ahead of the federal government in flagging taxes on electric vehicle users within 12 months. Victoria is ­expected to adopt a similar policy on road-user charges.

“Electric vehicles are here, many more are coming and Australia is fast running out of time to get EV-ready,” Mr Bradley said.

“A road-user charge makes perfect sense for EVs provided it’s at a rate that doesn’t disincentivise uptake, and provided it’s implemented in a nationally consistent manner.”

He said “all levels of government and industry need to develop a single model and avoid a situation in which states go about this in different ways, on different timeframes, and with different ­impacts”.

Energy and Emissions ­Reduction Minister Angus Taylor said the Morrison government was committed to allowing Australians to choose which type of car they drive. “We are backing a range of technologies, not picking one winner,” Mr Taylor said.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Transport Minister Michael McCormack did not comment on whether the federal government was pursuing road-user charges for green vehicles. The Weekend Australian understands while there was no “current federal proposal” to introduce road-user charges for electric vehicles, high-level discussions have focused on the need to plan for the future.

Infrastructure Australia has warned of a “growing disparity between increasing traffic and the decreasing return of funds to governments from fuel excise due to improved vehicle efficiency”. An IA report released last year said despite vehicle kilometres increasing, excise revenue had plunged by 20 per cent between 1998 and 2018.

The infrastructure body projects the total costs of road congestion and public transport crowding in Australia’s large cities will be $39.6bn in 2031.

The Electric Vehicle Council last week rejected any move to ­impose road-user charges. Chief executive Behyad Jafari said no other jurisdiction in the world had “thought it sensible to apply a special new tax to electric vehicles”. “Yes, in the long run governments won’t be receiving as much in fuel excise as people drive more ­efficient vehicles. But that’s a good thing,” he said. “Burning less foreign oil in our cars is good for our city air, it’s good for our health, it’s good for our climate, and it’s good for our economic sovereignty.”