Switzerland consulting on RUC for electric vehicles

Switzerland has the longest record of any European country with distance based road user charging, being the first to introduce it (for heavy vehicles (GVW over 3.5 tonnes)) in 2001 with its LSVA system.  The LSVA charges virtually all heavy vehicles by distance and weight class across all public roads in Switzerland (and Liechtenstein), although the first generation system used the tachograph as the primary measurement of distance, it used one of the first GPS On Board Units (OBUs) to support that measurement, including detecting where vehicles entered and exited the country.  It is worth noting the LSVA is mandatory not only for Swiss registered heavy vehicles, but visiting heavy vehicles (with a manual odometer reading on entry and exit at the border for those not equipped with GPS approved OBUs, and a lump sum option for some classes of heavy vehicles).

Light vehicles were not subject to such a charge, but the vignette for use of the the motorway network applies to them (CHF40 per annum (~US$50), along with fuel taxes and registration fees as in most jurisdictions. This looks likely to change in the coming years for the same reasons as many other jurisdictions have been considering road user charges (RUC) - the inability of fuel tax as a way of charging for road use by electric vehicles (EVs).

Switzerland's Federal Council announced at the end of September that it is consulting on options to tax EVs, with the intention that it commence in 2030.

If successful, it is possible Switzerland could be the first mainland European country to introduce a light vehicle distance based RUC (given Iceland already has one).

Background

The press release from the Federal Council states that the Federal road infrastructure is 100% user pays, with the "mineral oil tax" being the main source of revenue for it.  It pays into the National Road and Agglomeration Transport Fund and the Special Financing for Road Transport Fund with half of the fuel tax revenue also being general revenue to the Federal Treasury. 

Tax on petrol is at CHF 0.7312 per litre (US$0.91)

Tax on diesel is at CHF 0.7587 per litre (US$0.94)

Any new tax on EVs would be expected to go to similar funds as the taxes on fuel. To implement such charges would require Constitutional Changes.

Options

The two options being considered are:

- Distance based RUC also based on vehicle weight (estimated to average at CHF 0.054 per km (US$0.067)

- Energy based tax on electricity used to charge EVs (estimated to average at CHF 0.228/kwh (US$0.028)

The proposed energy tax would apply to both public and private vehicle charging (which would raise questions about implementing and enforcing such a fee on vehicle charging at home).

Consultation

Documents on the consultation are available here (in German) and here (in French) and here (in Italian)

Consultation concludes on 9 January 2026.

Thoughts

I'm not a fan of levying the electricity used in EVs because it is fraught with the cost of implementing separate metering at homes primarily to recover a tax, and there remain issues around enforcement. It is also a highly inferior way of pricing road use, through a proxy tax, rather than one actually based around usage. Switzerland's long and successful operation of its LSVA system for heavy vehicles (which is not fuel specific) indicates it is possible to extend this to all vehicles, in an appropriate form.

Key to any distance charge when vehicles can cross borders is to provide an option to have distance measured by location, so this ought to be included but be optional.  How this is to be accomplished is worth exploring.

Likewise, only having such a fee for EVs, and not considering plug-in hybrids or battery electric hybrids would be a mistake, as those vehicles pay much less fuel tax, and it would be seem appropriate to ensure they are charged appropriately for using the roads. Ultimately it could apply to all vehicles in due course, but this is

French court decision identifies RAPP Trans on Ecomouv conflict of interest

Further to the story from yesterday, French website Transport Logistique reports that the Swiss based consultancy firm RAPP Trans is the firm implicated in presenting a potential conflict of interest with the French heavy vehicle tolls project.

The report (in French) indicates the consortium ALVIA (comprising Sanef, Siemens and Atos) alleges "that the competitive dialogue did not obey "the principle of transparency and the principle of inviolability of applications".

The problem allegedly being that the French government relied on RAPP Trans to provide it with professional services.  RAPP Trans is a technical consultancy, best known for having designed the Swiss LSVA heavy vehicle distance based charging system that has been in place since 2001.  It has also undertaken other technical advice work in a number of European countries. 

RAPP Trans also allegedly has "close trade links" with Autostrade, the lead company in the winning bid for the French system, through work with the European Commission.

The fundamental legal question in the appeal will likely be whether those links are sufficient to overturn the tender. 

The appeal will be most interesting.  If the appeal does not succeed, it will raise questions about how transparent RAPP Trans was with the French government about its relationship with potential suppliers, it will possibly create a far higher standard of due diligence of separation of roles between advisors (if RAPP Trans had done work for Autostrade during the time of its work for the French government, it would appear to be a clear cut case of conflict, but if the relationship was beforehand it would seem less clear).   It could simply mean consultants have to choose more distinctly whether they want to advise governments or advise suppliers.  It is a decision that gets undertaken quite frequently - and it does not look good if any company is caught out appearing to be able to give unfair advantage to tenderers.

Swiss launch 2nd generation heavy vehicle OBU

Switzerland has the world's oldest electronic based distance road user charging scheme.  The LSVA (Leistungsabhängige Schwerverkehrsabgabe) was launched in 2001, and has the following essential features:

- All goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes operating on Swiss roads must pay the LSVA distance charge (with few exemptions);

- Vehicles must pay for distance travelled on all public roads, not just motorways;

- The charge is based on gross laden weight, Euro engine (environmental) rating and distance travelled.

Distance is measured with an on board unit (OBU) connected to the vehicle's tachograph.  To avoid fraud (which can easily be undertaken by interfering with the tachograph signal) this is correlated with a GPS unit, which also helps to control the unit when vehicles enter and exit Switzerland.  Foreign vehicles without such units get their odometers measured at entrance and exit and are charged accordingly with a surcharge.

The distance measurement on the OBU is currently transmitted through a smart card which is removed from the OBU and either posted to the Swiss Federal Customs Administration or taken into offices where distance records are checked and payment is taken.

The 2nd generation OBU - Emotach - is to be available from 1 January 2011 with the intention that existing units are all replaced by the end of 2012.  According to Ertico the system supplier is Siemens Solutions and Services AG in Zurich, with sub-supplier Continental in Villingen/Schwenningen for the on-board unit. The new units have the following advantages:

- Greater security for units and smartcards;

- Multiple smartcards can be used so trailers can be more easily interchangeable;

- Bluetooth communication of data to cellphones or terminals, avoiding need to send or insert smartcards;

- Declaration available online;

- Data able to be produced in Microsoft Excel format.

Emotach Swiss distance charging OBU

In addition, it appears the units will be able to be used for the Austrian DSRC based ASFINAG heavy vehicle toll.

Information in more detail is on the Swiss Federal Customs Administration in German, French and Italian.

For heavy vehicle owners, the good news is that the cost of the unit replacement is being fully met by the system operator.   

The Swiss system deserves more attention, because it works well, applies across ALL roads and shows that it isn't bleeding edge technology that is needed.   Although the other side of all of this is that the system was expensive to set up, and that the main benefits for Switzerland have been revenue collected from foreign vehicles (and maintenance savings from reducing the use of its network).  Bear in mind that one of the key reasons the Swiss introduced the LSVA was to capture vehicles that used its roads to bypass French toll roads.

So whilst many consider how to introduce distance charging schemes, the Swiss quietly run one that works rather well.