But could EV drivers be forced to pay their “fair share” earlier than we expected?

There are now reports the government is fast-tracking the fee this week as part of broader tax reform and productivity targets.

How do road user charges work?

There are federal and state complexities associated with a new road fee targeting EV drivers.

The NSW government has already flagged plans to apply a road-user charge to EV drivers by July 1, 2027 or whenever EVs make up 30 per cent of all new car sales, whichever comes first.

This charge will be indexed to the consumer price index for each financial year, meaning for the 2025-26 financial year the charge would be 2.874c per kilometre for battery EV and hydrogen fuel cell EVs or 2.379c for a plug-in hybrid EVs.

NSW is the only state government with confirmed plans to introduce the charge.

NSW and Victoria have both demanded a revenue-sharing model if a national road-user distance-based charge on EVs was implemented.

The Victorian government confirmed it would work with Chalmers and the federal government for a national charge.

The NSW government said it was working to “assess the potential implications of the decision for NSW’s electric vehicle road user charge”.