What electric cars pay in motor vehicle tax in Bern, how the tax is calculated and what is changing.
In the canton of Bern, fully electric cars permanently pay half the weight-based rate (CHF 0.12 instead of 0.24 per kg for the first tonne). On top of that there is a 60 % discount in the year of first registration and the following three years. An EV therefore pays about half as much as a combustion car of the same weight over its lifetime, and about one fifth in the first four years.
Gross vehicle weight (registration document) and number of days registered. Cars: CHF 0.24 per kg for the first 1,000 kg; each further tonne is charged at 86 % of the previous tonne's rate. CO2, engine capacity and drive type (e.g. hybrid) do not count, except for the efficiency discounts.
For battery-electric vehicles the standard tax is CHF 0.12 per kg for the first 1,000 kg (half the normal rate), with each further tonne also at 86 % of the previous rate (Art. 11 BSFG). This half rate has no time limit. In addition, vehicles with exclusively battery-electric drive receive a 60 % reduction on the standard tax from first registration, for the current year and the following three years (Art. 12a para. 4 and 5 BSFG). After that, the (half) EV standard rate applies again.
Plug-in hybrids are taxed like combustion cars at the full weight-based rate; drive type is not considered. Like all cars, however, they get a discount if they are in efficiency category A (40 %) or B (20 %) at first registration (from 2013), again for the current year and the following three years.
Battery-electric car, gross weight 2,300 kg, registered all year, within the first four years: CHF 99.95 (standard EV tax CHF 249.85 minus 60 % rebate). From year 5: CHF 249.85. Same-weight car without EV/efficiency rebate: CHF 499.65. Calculated with the formula of the official SVSA calculator on the source page (weight chosen as illustration, not a specific model).: CHF 100 per year (source)
The Auto-Check works out how much you save overall with an electric car, using your own assumptions.
As of: October 2026. All information without guarantee. The tax bill and the cantonal road traffic office are authoritative.
