Concept for the levy on electric vehicles

Road infrastructure is currently financed to a large extent by the mineral oil tax. With the conversion of the vehicle fleet from conventional to battery-electric drives, the number of vehicles that co-finance the infrastructure via the mineral oil tax is steadily decreasing. This means that there will be a lack of funds for the maintenance and expansion of the infrastructure in the long term.

With the planned levy, electric vehicles will co-finance the road infrastructure and compensate for the financial shortfall in mineral oil tax. This will secure the financing of the road infrastructure in the long term. The introduction of the levy on electric vehicles is planned for 2030.

The Federal Council has instructed the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) and the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) to draw up a legislative package for the sustainable financing of transport infrastructure.

Key points

The new levy should take into account the following key points:

• The tax is to be levied on all kilometers driven in Switzerland.
• The levy is to apply to all vehicles that are not powered by fuels that are subject to mineral oil tax.
• The charge should be levied in a non-discriminatory manner on vehicles registered in Switzerland and abroad. Domestic and foreign vehicles should be treated as equally as possible.

Dispensing concept

A levy concept is drawn up as the basis for the draft legislation. This describes what information can be collected and how. Suitable technical and operational implementation options for implementing the levy concept will be identified.