EV drivers under pressure to pay their fair share of road costs

GEOFF CHAMBERS

OCTOBER 28, 2019

The Australian

Electric vehicle drivers should be charged road-user costs, with 76 per cent of Australians calling on green-car owners to contribute to transport infrastructure, and ­almost one-in-two declaring it unfair they avoid paying fuel excise.

New polling obtained by The Australian reveals pushback against electric vehicle owners, with Australian motorists warning “there shouldn’t be one rule for them and another for us”.

The survey of 1500 Australians, conducted by pollster Toby Ralph for the Australian Automobile Association, shows an “overwhelming sentiment that all road users should pay to fund the roads, not just those using petrol or diesel”.

The research, based on 1400 quantitative and 100 qualitative interviews across the nation in July, also revealed concerns about Australia holding 50 days of fuel stocks, with 55 per cent saying it was insufficient and 31 per cent unsure.

AAA managing director Michael Bradley said the data spoke to the fact that “Australian motorists are incredibly price sensitive and very focused on high transport costs”. “People understand motoring taxes build and maintain the roads and rail networks we all need, and Australians clearly want that burden shared equally,” Mr Bradley said.

“Low emissions vehicle technologies are evolving rapidly and while no one wants the adoption of cleaner, safer cars stifled, Australia’s tax system needs to be updated if it is to be ready for the changes coming.

“The task in front of government is to fix a structural flaw in the federal budget by creating a national road access charge for low emission vehicles, which brings this growing fleet into the tax system without disincentivising uptake.”

According to Infrastructure Australia, electric vehicles are projected to account for 70 per cent of new vehicle sales and 30 per cent of the vehicle fleet by 2040.

In February, the Electric ­Vehicle Council welcomed IA’s identification of the need to construct a national electric vehicle fast-charging network as a “high priority initiative for Australia”.

According to interviews conducted for the AAA-commissioned research, respondents raised concerns over electric ­vehicle owners not paying the fuel excise of 41.6c for every litre of petrol.

“It’s their choice to get (an electric car) but they should pay too,” a respondent said.

Others said “when you think about it, it’s like tax avoidance”, “why should I subsidise them” and “it’s only fair they pay something”.

Debate over electric vehicles peaked ahead of the federal election after Bill Shorten flagged an electric vehicle target of 50 per cent of new car sales by 2030.

Both major parties have baulked at funding a major rollout of recharging infrastructure across the nation and supporting generous subsidies for electric vehicles, which have been adopted by some overseas governments.

The AAA research showed while a majority of Australians knew about the fuel excise, they were unaware of how much it was worth, and only older motorists knew it was used to pay for roads. Excise rates on fuel and petroleum products are indexed twice a year in line with the consumer price index.

On paying to increase fuel stocks to 90 days, 59 per cent of those surveyed said nothing and 21 per cent flagged they would likely pay less than 2c.

Asked if they were aware ­Europe’s petrol is “cleaner” than Australia’s fuel, 72 per cent said they weren’t and only 41 per cent of respondents were likely to pay more for cleaner fuel that would “reduce emissions and improve community health”.