Electric and hybrid vehicle owners will be taxed per kilometre to use Western Australia's roads from 2027 to help pay for road upgrades and maintenance.
The new road-user charge is being introduced as a funding mechanism instead of the fuel tax, which electric vehicle drivers do not pay.
"Unfortunately, we have to fund the roads, we have to put money into maintenance, and we have to have a funding source for that," Premier Mark McGowan said.
The tax has been set at 2.5 cents per kilometre for electric and hydrogen vehicles and 2 cents per kilometre for plug-in hybrid vehicles. The rate will rise with inflation.
The pre-budget announcement is part of a series of other measures aimed at encouraging the take-up of electric vehicles.
State budget to include clean energy car fund
The McGowan Government's state budget, to be handed down on Thursday, will include $60 million to accelerate the use of zero-emission vehicles.
This includes $36.5 million for $3,500 rebates for the first 10,000 people who buy an electric vehicle with a price tag of less than $70,000.
"This initiative will mean more people can take up the opportunity to buy an electric vehicle and reduce their carbon emissions, reduce their fuel costs, reduce their dependence on fuel," Mr McGowan said.
There will also be $22.6 million allocated in the budget to expand WA's electric vehicle charging network.
The government will pay for half the cost of a charging station installed by a local government, small-to-medium-sized business, or a not-for-profit organisation on their premises.
The Premier also promised to extend the network of charging stations in regional areas to encourage people to drive their electric vehicles out of the city and around the state.
More than $2.9 million will be spent on eight new charging stations on a section of Australia's Highway 1 between Norseman and Eucla.
"Whether you're going to Kununurra or across to the South Australian border, you'll be able to get your vehicle charged," he said.
Electric vehicle tax a 'backward step'
Distance-based road user charges for drivers of electric vehicles have also been introduced in Victoria, NSW and South Australia.
After South Australia proposed the same road charge on electric vehicles, the Australia Institute described it as "a great big new tax on not polluting".
Noah Schultz-Byard, SA director at The Australia Institute, said it was "a backward and unnecessary step" especially given the fuel excise is levied by the Commonwealth and that it goes into general revenue, which is not specifically used for road funding.
"Penalising electric car owners because they don't consume petrol that pollutes the atmosphere and our environment is absurd," Mr Schultz-Byard said.
But WA's Climate Action Minister Reece Whitby said the tax was necessary to make it fair for all road users.
"If we don't make this change it means the people that are still driving petrol-fuelled cars, and often those will be people who can't afford to buy an electric vehicle yet, will have the whole burden of funding our roads," Mr Whitby said.
"I don't think that's fair, so we need a fairer system for the future that takes into account increased use of EV cars."
'It's not like we're freeloading': EV Association
Australian Electric Vehicle Association President Chris Jones said it was unfair to "single out" electric vehicle drivers when they had already paid "a substantial chunk of tax" through GST and stamp duty.
"It's not like we're freeloading," Mr Jones said.
"It's not like we haven't paid our taxes and if we genuinely want to charge people for the damage they cause to the roads, then we should be multiplying it by the mass of the vehicle as well.
"Because the heavier the vehicle, the more damage it does to the road. And if we can factor that in, I think it will be fairer.
"The road user charge is not a bad idea in itself. But it could be implemented better."
