The former Marshall Liberal government’s Electric Vehicles (EV) tax has been axed, after legislation to repeal it passed the Parliament last week.

The axing of the tax has been welcomed by local Member, Tony Piccolo, said the repeal of the tax provides certainty of cost for electric vehicle drivers, as well as supporting the uptake of electric vehicles by preserving the financial benefits for EV.

Mr Piccolo said the axing of the tax removes the disincentive to choose the environmentally friendly option when purchasing a motor vehicle, and honouring a major election commitment by the Malinauskas Labor Government.

“The benefits of Labor’s commitment to repeal the Liberals’ tax are evident in new EV sales in South Australia in the month of January – with 242 electric vehicles sold, up from just 32 in the same month in 2022,” said Mr Piccolo.

“A survey undertaken by the Australia Institute in 2021 showed seven in 10 South Australians were less likely to purchase an electric vehicle if a new road user charge was to be introduced.”

The Malinauskas Labor Government is keenly participating in the development of the Commonwealth Albanese Government’s National Electric Vehicle Strategy, as well as delivering state-based support for this rapidly evolving industry, including:

•     a recently announced subsidy to training providers of EV training

      programs,

•     EV registration subsidies,

•     investment into the rollout of charging infrastructure; and

•     funding smart charging trials to demonstrate how EV charging can be

      integrated into the grid to realise electricity cost savings for all South

      Australians.

Mr Piccolo said South Australians should be encouraged to make environmentally-responsible choices, not met with new barriers.

“South Australians want to see their State Government incentivising the take-up of electric vehicles, not slugging users with extra costs.”

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