Last week, when the Ministry of Finance presented the travel tax plan for public comments, a decision to include plug-in vehicles in it also stood out.
These are plug-in hybrid vehicles, which combine the two worlds: an electric range that is sufficient for most daily trips, dozens of kilometers, and in new models even over 100 km, and also a hybrid drive unit that ensures that you will not get stuck even when the battery runs out
. The plug-in tax of 15 cents per kilometer caused a lot of opposition in the responses received by the Authority. Unlike vehicles that are 100% electric, do not consume any fuel and are not charged with the heavy taxes on gasoline and diesel, plug-in vehicles do consume gasoline, and few diesel.
You want an electrified vehicle without range anxiety Comparative
test: Kia Niro vs. MG EHS
First drive: WEY Kofi 02
First drive: Link Ang Ko 01
Some of the flagship vehicles, like Wey, no longer reach a practical range of more than 100 electric kilometers/Keenan Cohen
The theoretical consumption is lower, but in practice not all owners of these vehicles are careful to charge their battery every day, and therefore consume fuel like a normal hybrid vehicle.
This was also the reasoning of the tax authority to completely cancel the tax benefit given to these vehicles until last year.
Countries that have already introduced a travel tax give a discount to plug-in vehicles compared to electric cars.
In New Zealand this year, a tax of 76 local dollars per 1,000 km was introduced for trams, compared to 53 dollars for plug-in vehicles. In Australia, tram owners are charged 2.5 cents per kilometer and plug-in vehicles 2 cents.
It is unlikely that the state will completely abandon the collection of the tax from plug-in vehicles, but at the moment it appears that a reduced rate will be chosen for them.
More than 62,000 plug-in vehicles are currently driving in Israel, about 30,000 popular models such as the Kia Niro and MG EHS, and the rest mainly luxury models.
This is compared to about 106,000 fully electric cars.
More on the same topic:
Plug in
Car taxation