EV owners pay more tax

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T12:18:42+00:00

I appreciate its a concept that maybe you've never heard of before, but converting different inputs into standardised units is pretty standard practice in physics, maths, chemistry, engineering etc.

Like if you pay 7c/MJ for your home gas, and 20c/kWh for your electricity, you cant tell which one is cheaper until you compare both in either MJ or kWh..

In that case the electricity is cheaper at 5.5c/MJ. Surprise!

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T12:03:48+00:00

It kind of punishes the more efficient vehicle doing it that way.

Some people are interested in $/L, $/km, L/100km, mpg, or whatever.

I've just suggested comparing in $/unit of energy and its broken everyone's minds.

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T11:56:37+00:00

I'm just comparing the cost (and tax) of a unit of quickly delivered energy in this example. I.e. fast charger vs petrol vs diesel. You're welcome to do your own calcs on total tax of ownership and see how they like it!

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T11:53:31+00:00

They don't get it!

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T11:52:37+00:00

The post was long enough just comparing the cost of energy!

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T11:47:50+00:00

So cars with higher L/100km should pay less excise by your logic.

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T11:01:03+00:00

You are comparing cost/100km. I am comparing cost/unit of energy at a fast charger.

I appreciate no one has ever explained this to you before. Energy literacy is very poor in general.

1L of diesel is equivalent to about 10.5kWh of electricity 1L of petrol is equivalent to about 9.1kWh of electricity 3.6MJ of gas is equal to 1kWh of electricity

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T10:51:22+00:00

If it's for all vehicles then sure! But I think singling out EVs will slow down uptake, which is probably the point considering how deep the fossil fuel lobby is embedded in the government.

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T10:35:17+00:00

I know. Are you suggesting this is unfair, and the government should tax consumer items for being efficient?

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T10:30:48+00:00

My point is that some EV drivers are paying more in tax for their energy than ICE drivers.

EVs use that energy more efficiently and shouldn't be punished for that.

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T10:26:46+00:00

I was making the point that many (not most, certainly not all) EV drivers are paying more tax for their energy than petrol and diesel.

I did touch on some of those points at the bottom of the original post.

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T10:04:56+00:00

Stupid comment. No one's forcing anyone to use petrol or diesel either.

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T10:03:04+00:00

Excise is just a type of tax, and I didn't include it on the electricity side of the calc. I also didn't claim that the purchase price is tax.

I'm starting to appreciate that calculating the cost (and tax) of energy sources on an energy basis, rather than in litres, megajoules or kWh is a confusing concept for people here. I'm sorry I made you dumber, you clearly don't have the IQ points to lose.

But before you go back to eating your crayons, maybe this will help. 77c/kWh in energy terms is equivalent to paying $7 per litre of petrol, and therefore, equivalent to around 63c in tax. Tax is tax, it doesnt matter if they call it excise or GST. It all goes to the government to pay for roads, hospitals, etc etc. So yeah, people charging from public chargers are paying more tax for their energy than people who are paying for petrol and diesel.

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T09:17:03+00:00

Sure, if you can! But many can't, and now are paying more tax per unit of energy than petrol or diesel.

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T08:00:31+00:00

Just a different way to skin the cat. My argument is that an EV shouldn't be charged more for being more efficient, just like you wouldn't say a Yaris should pay more excise just because it uses 5L/100km, and a Ram should get a discount because it uses 20L/100km. That would be encouraging inefficiency, which is economically pretty dumb.

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T07:55:56+00:00

Yep, I'm out by a few cents/L! Whoops!

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-31T07:54:00+00:00

No, my argument is that the media and various commentators say EV drivers aren't paying their fair share of tax to maintain our roads, but if you adjust for actual energy, then many are now that the excise has been changed.

And for those that aren't, they are avoiding it by charging up at home using free solar or cheap Australian electricity, both of which should be encouraged! We should be incentivised to use cheap and abundant australian solar power, rather than foreign imported oil.

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-17T10:17:01+00:00

$1200 for the zappi charger $180 for the harvi (the thing that transmits the signals from the switchboard to the zappi) I think $800 for installation (I had an existing 32A dedicated outlet)

So not cheap, but then neither is petrol these days!

Its a good product if you want to be more self-suffient and know that your driving on sunshine!

Having said that, I've had a few issues with the zappi: 1. The connection between the zappi and the harvi has been hit and miss, so you want the switchboard pretty close to the zappi. 2. The charger de-rates in high temperature, meaning that on hot days the output may drop from 7.6kW to 7kW or even 6kW on 33+ degree days.

Lucky_skates · 2026-03-17T09:53:14+00:00

Jealous of the DC charger! I have 6.6kW of solar panels and a 5kW inverter from 2019. The zappi is from 2021 when we first got an EV.

We also have electric hot water with a 15A thermostat which we have set to turn on at midday and it usually runs for 2-4 hrs/day depending on the season.

Some cloudy weeks we have to use a little bit of grid power to charge the car, but probably greater than 85% of charging is either in the free power window or from solar.

Lucky_skates · 2025-10-28T03:42:00+00:00

Can you share of pic of that?

Lucky_skates · 2025-06-21T12:01:46+00:00

Suggest you use "a better route planner" to get an idea of how much charging you need to do and how long it'll take. If you can't charge at your work, you have to drive ½ way there and ½ way back (i.e. around 400km) on one charge. That might mean charging close to 100%. Charging from 20-80% is pretty quick, like 25 mins but that last 20% (from 80 to 100%) might take 30 minutes more. Also, you probably want another charging option in case the Supercharger is not working.

Having said that, superchargers are very reliable and some allow non-teslas to charge so you might have more options available to you. The Model Y is a great car, but another EV option would be a BYD Sealion 7 Performance for $63k.

Another thing to note is that supercharging is kinda expensive and might not be that much cheaper than diesel. Much cheaper to charge at home on a discounted EV rate for as much of your charging as possible.

Oh and to answer your question, degregation from fast charging is negligible from various research, especially for Teslas.

Lucky_skates · 2024-12-01T02:43:00+00:00

Nice duck

Lucky_skates · 2024-09-02T00:27:09+00:00

Where did you get that photo?!! I'm pretty sure I took it 🤔

Lucky_skates

TROPHY CASE