high court electric vehicles Page 1248

In October 2023, the High Court of Australia struck down Victoria’s per‑kilometre electric‑vehicle charge (the ZLEV distance tax) in Vanderstock v Victoria, finding it an unconstitutional duty of excise reserved for the Commonwealth.

Translation: states can’t whack a pay‑per‑km EV tax in that form, so similar ideas around the country were quietly shelved.

It doesn’t touch rego fees, tolls or parking—those still sting like a bluebottle at Bondi—but any proper road‑user scheme now has to come from Canberra.

Net result: EV owners dodged a clumsy state tax, and policymakers were told to coordinate like grown‑ups.