Drivers of electric, hydrogen and plug-in hybrid vehicles in Iceland will have to pay a kilometre-based rate in 2024 – a year earlier than owners of diesel and petrol vehicles, who will be charged in early 2025.
An announcement on the Icelandic government’s website states that the kilometre-fee is part of a new system that will replace the current special fee for petrol and oil.
Electric, hydrogen and plug-in-hybrid vehicles have so far borne a limited cost of using Iceland’s road network and the success of the country’s energy exchange requires financing of road transport to be independent of fossil fuel networks.
It’s estimated that the cost per kilometre will be ISK 6 (£0.034p) for electric and hydrogen cars next year.
However, hybrid vehicles will pay a ISK 2 (£0.011p) per-kilometre rate given such vehicles use both electricity and fossil fuels and will continue to pay corresponding charges for using the latter.
“The significant advances in the development of more fuel-efficient cars have resulted in newer cars being able to drive considerably more kilometres per litre of fuel,” reads the government announcement.
“This development has also weakened the ability of the Treasury to fund road maintenance and construction, since this revenue generation is based in large part on a fixed charge per litre of fuel.”
It also states that, by implementing the new system in two steps, lessons learned from the implementation can be applied and arrangements further strengthened in future.
You can learn more about the key trends and challenges affecting senior decision-makers who have responsibility for tolling, intelligent transportation systems and road pricing across the world at the 21st annual Road User Charging Conference in Brussels, Belgium on 05-06 March 2024. Click here for more information
