The American electric car company announced the availability of the car model in additional countries, including New Zealand, in 2017.

With a starting price of USD 35,000, the Tesla Model 3 could be a good choice for my next car, which I plan to replace in a couple of years.

The Tesla Model 3 can carry five adults and is advertised as covering 215 miles (346 kilometres) per charge.

A perfect car to consider if you want to have remarkable savings on petrol costs and other related expenses, plus the impact on the environment.

While the proliferation of electric vehicles (EVs) like the Tesla Model 3 presents significant advantages, a potential issue will also emerge from an infrastructure management perspective.

As most of you probably know, New Zealand allocates 1% of GDP to transport infrastructure every year. Half of the New Zealand National Land Transport Fund is derived from petrol tax funds.

In the years to come, as more fuel-efficient and/or electric vehicles use our road network, the decline in fuel tax revenue will be unavoidable.

The popularity of the Tesla Model 3 and similar EVs in 2017 and beyond would seemingly hasten these potential funding decrease issues.

The good news is that New Zealand has already examined the potential impacts of these changes in numerous research reports.

These include the Future Funding Summary Report supplemented with a review of international transportation planning and funding frameworks.

New Zealand has already instituted an alternative road-use taxation system, the distance-travelled-based Road User Fee, which is currently in place.

Having alternatives to a volumetric fuel tax will enable our authorities to transition smoothly to a new transportation network revenue and funding system when required.

According to the International Review, countries with federal structures, such as the USA and Germany, will find it harder to change their funding mechanisms.

As more alternative-fueled vehicles, including EVs, are added to OECD transportation fleets, infrastructure asset management practitioners should not ignore the implications of the infrastructure management analysis.

On the one hand, generating tax revenue and funding changes take time and require extensive public consultation and political deliberation, especially in federal countries.

On the other hand, failure to meet the funding demands of transportation network developments also has long-term effects.

Transportation asset management leaders should consider the need to be involved in the evaluation and discussion of transport network funding and the possible effects on the budget that changes and innovations in the motor vehicle industry may bring.

 

 

IMAGE CREDIT: Image by Blomst from Pixabay