What electric cars pay in motor vehicle tax in Aargau, how the tax is calculated and what is changing.
Since 1 January 2026, all passenger cars in Aargau are taxed on gross weight and rated power. EVs get no discount on the tax amount itself but a permanent technical adjustment: their weight is counted at 80% and their power at 70%. An EV therefore pays roughly the same as a combustion car with correspondingly lower weight and power.
Since 1 Jan 2026, gross weight and rated power (Vehicle Tax Act VStG, SAR 755.100, § 4). Weight component: CHF 90 up to 1,400 kg, plus CHF 0.085 for each additional kilogram. Power component: CHF 90 up to 60 kW, plus CHF 1.00 for each additional kilowatt. Official example: 2,120 kg and 110 kW give CHF 151 + CHF 140 = CHF 291. No bonus or malus; the reform is revenue-neutral. Previously the tax was based on engine capacity (fiscal horsepower).
For battery-electric and fuel-cell vehicles, 20% is deducted from gross weight and 30% from rated power before the tax is calculated (§ 4(2) and (3) VStG). The canton justifies this by the technological disadvantage (battery weight, maximum power not available continuously) and explicitly does not describe it as an incentive. Official example: a gross weight of 2,650 kg counts as 2,120 kg, and a rated power of 250 kW counts as 175 kW. The deduction has no time limit. A temporary EV discount originally planned was dropped after the 2023 consultation.
Plug-in hybrids get a 10% deduction on gross weight and 15% on rated power (§ 4(2) and (3) VStG), also with no time limit. If the vehicle data do not identify a car as a plug-in hybrid, the deduction is not applied at first; the Road Traffic Office then works out a solution with the keeper.
The Auto-Check works out how much you save overall with an electric car, using your own assumptions.
As of: January 2026. All information without guarantee. The tax bill and the cantonal road traffic office are authoritative.
