What electric cars pay in motor vehicle tax in Lucerne, how the tax is calculated and what is changing.
Since 1 January 2025 Lucerne calculates vehicle tax on gross weight and power. Fully electric and hydrogen cars get a permanent 20 % deduction. If the car is rated A or B on the energy label and emits less than half the federal CO2 target (in practice only fully electric cars manage this), the tax is cut by a further 80 % in the year of registration and the four following years.
Cars: CHF 0.139 per kg gross weight, plus CHF 0.810 per kW for the first 75 kW, CHF 1.215 per kW for the next 75 kW and CHF 1.620 for each further kW (§ 13 of the vehicle tax law, SRL 776, in force since 1 January 2025). 15 % surcharge for Euro 3 or worse, or CO2 at least double the federal target.
To compensate for extra weight and power, all fully electric (battery or hydrogen) cars get a permanent 20 % deduction on the annual tax (§ 13 para. 2 SRL 776, rate set in § 4g of ordinance SRL 777). In addition, the tax is cut by 80 % for the year of first registration and the four following years if, at first registration, the car is in energy-label category A or B and its CO2 value is below half the current federal target (registrations from 1 January 2025: below 46.8 g CO2/km WLTP; up to 31 December 2024: below 59 g/km) (§ 4a SRL 777). EVs rated worse than B get only the 20 % deduction. The keeper must provide proof.
Plug-in hybrids do not get the 20 % deduction (fully electric vehicles only). In theory they can get the 80 % bonus, but the canton considers it unlikely that they meet both energy label A/B and less than 46.8 g CO2/km (WLTP).
Nothing has been decided for cars. An ordinance amendment adopted on 28 April 2026 (in force from 1 January 2027) only affects motorcycles, small and three-wheeled vehicles, not the rules for electric cars.
Not conclusively clarified: whether the 80 % bonus applies to the tax after the 20 % deduction or to the gross tax. Whether a given electric car model is rated A or B on the energy label must be checked case by case.
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.
