The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation launched the Hawaiʻi Road Usage Charge (HiRUC) program for light-duty passenger electric vehicles (EVs) on Tuesday.
Under the program, eligible EV owners who renew a vehicle registration renewal notice received after July 1 will have the option to pay a state per-mile road usage charge (RUC) flat annual fee of $50 or a RUC of $8 per 1,000 miles with a $50 cap.
“Instead of paying based on what type of car you drive – or can afford – a road usage charge means vehicle owners will pay only for how much they actually drive,” Ed Sniffen, Hawai‘i Department of Transportation director, said. “It’s a much fairer way for everyone to contribute to keeping our roads and bridges safe and operable,” We are starting initially with EVs and aim to phase all light-duty passenger vehicles into the program by 2033. Hawaiʻi is fortunate since we can use our annual safety inspection program, making the process easy and cost-effective.”
The flat fee and the fee per 1,000 miles replace the state’s previous $50 EV registration surcharge. The state per-mile RUC will become mandatory for EVs by 2028. The program is expected to expand to all light-duty vehicles by 2033.