WA EV Road User Charge: What Was Announced, What Is Law and What You Pay
WA announced an EV road user charge for July 2027 in 2022 and has done nothing visible since. What was promised, why it is stuck, and what a WA EV driver actually pays in 2026.
Western Australia announced a road user charge on EVs of 2.5 cents a kilometre from 1 July 2027 in May 2022, and has not legislated it. No bill has been introduced to the WA Parliament, the WA Government’s EV policies page makes no mention of a charge, and no WA EV driver pays anything per kilometre in October 2026. This page covers what was announced and where it sits; our national road user charge guide covers why Victoria’s charge was struck down and what NSW has legislated.
What did WA announce?
In May 2022 the McGowan government unveiled a $60 million EV package: $36.5 million for a $3,500 rebate on zero-emission vehicles priced under $70,000, $22.6 million for charging infrastructure, and a distance-based road user charge to start on 1 July 2027 at 2.5 cents a kilometre for battery electric and hydrogen vehicles and 2 cents for plug-in hybrids, as WhichCar and CarExpert reported at the time. The charge was framed the way Victoria’s had been a year earlier: EVs pay no fuel excise, so they should pay something for the roads, and the 2027 start was meant to let the market grow first.
The rebate half of the package happened and has since ended, closing to cars bought after 10 May 2025, as our EV rebates guide records. The charge half has not moved.
Is the WA road user charge law?
No. Victoria legislated its charge in 2021 and NSW did the same year; WA announced one and stopped there. We searched the WA Parliament’s bills and the WA Government’s EV pages in October 2026 and found no Electric Vehicle or road user charge bill, and the government’s EV policy page, which lists every live measure and was last updated in October 2025, says nothing about a per-kilometre charge. The WA Government has not formally withdrawn the announcement either, so the honest status is announced and dormant.
Two things explain the silence. On 18 October 2023 the High Court decided in Vanderstock v Victoria that Victoria’s per-kilometre charge was a duty of excise, which only the Commonwealth may impose under section 90 of the Constitution; a WA charge built the same way would face the same challenge. And in September 2025 the state and federal treasurers agreed to work on a national approach to road user charging, which the federal budget in May 2026 then put on hold while that work continues. A state that legislated now would be inviting a court case for a scheme Canberra may replace.
What would it cost if it happened?
At the announced, unindexed 2022 rates:
| Annual distance | Battery EV (2.5c/km) | Plug-in hybrid (2c/km) |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 km | $250 | $200 |
| 15,000 km | $375 | $300 |
| 20,000 km | $500 | $400 |
For scale, a petrol car using 7.5 litres per 100 km pays about $604 a year in federal fuel excise alone at 15,000 km, at the 53.7 cents a litre rate the ATO applies from August 2026, before buying any petrol. The WA figures were lower than NSW’s legislated 3.095 cents, and WA distances are longer, so a Perth-to-Kalgoorlie commuter would feel it more than a Sydney one; even so, it is a fraction of what the same kilometres cost in fuel.
What does a WA EV driver pay today?
Registration and stamp duty like any other car, and electricity. WA has no EV stamp duty concession and never had one, and the $100 registration discount for zero-emission vehicles reported by rebate trackers ended at the start of 2026, so there is no ongoing state incentive to offset a future charge. What WA does have is the WA EV Network, the state-funded string of fast chargers from Kununurra to Esperance that the 2022 package paid for, which matters more to most WA drivers than 2.5 cents a kilometre. Our WA charger pages list the sites, and our guide to what it costs to charge an EV has the home and public rates.
What should a WA EV driver do?
Nothing yet. Keep the 2.5 cents in the back of your mind as the upper bound of what WA has ever proposed, watch the federal scheme rather than the state one, and do not let a dormant announcement change a purchase: on the figures above it would cost less than half the fuel excise of a petrol car. We re-check the WA Parliament’s bills and the WA Government’s EV page whenever the state or the Commonwealth moves. Status above verified on 20 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Does WA have an EV road user charge?
Not in law. In May 2022 the WA Government announced a charge of 2.5 cents a kilometre for battery and hydrogen cars and 2 cents for plug-in hybrids from 1 July 2027, as part of a $60 million EV package. As of October 2026 no bill has been introduced, the WA Government's own EV policy page does not mention the charge, and nothing is collected.
How much would the WA EV road user charge cost?
At the announced rates, 2.5 cents a kilometre for a battery EV and 2 cents for a plug-in hybrid, a driver doing 15,000 km a year would pay about $375 or $300. The rate was never legislated or indexed, so those are 2022 figures for a charge that may not happen.
Why hasn't WA legislated its EV charge?
The WA Government has not said. The likely reasons are the High Court's October 2023 ruling that Victoria's identical charge was an excise only the Commonwealth can impose, and the federal government's work on a national scheme, which was put on hold in the May 2026 budget. Any WA charge would face the same constitutional problem Victoria's did.
Are there still EV incentives in WA?
The $3,500 rebate on EVs under $70,000 closed to cars bought after 10 May 2025, and WA never offered a stamp duty concession for EVs. Charging infrastructure funding from the 2022 package continues, including the WA EV Network of fast chargers along the state's highways.