Get an EV, they said, you’ll save the planet and save money they said. Then, reality intrudes
Electric vehicle owners to face pay-per-mile tax
A new tax for electric and hybrid vehicles has been announced by the chancellor in the Budget.
From April 2028, electric car drivers will pay a road charge of 3p per mile, while plug-in hybrid drivers will pay 1.5p per mile, with the rates going up each year with inflation.
The new tax is about “half the fuel duty rate paid by drivers of petrol cars”, according to the government’s independent forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
Drivers will pay the charge based on how many miles they drive from April 2028.
Motorists will have their mileage checked annually, typically during their MOT as is already the case, or for new cars, around their first and second registration anniversary, the Treasury said.
Payment will be integrated into the existing Vehicle Excise Duty system that is administrated by DVLA.
Under the measures, an electric car driver clocking up 8,500 miles in the 2028-29 financial year is expected to pay about £255 – about half the cost per mile that petrol and diesel drivers pay in fuel tax.
So, you should be paying £0, but, nope, the Powers That Be realized that EVs drive on roads and roads need to be maintained and do not pay a fuel tax, so, they’ll get you one way or the other. Here in NC, and many other states, the yearly registration is vastly higher than with gas and hybrid vehicles, erasing a goodly chunk of the savings for driving an EV. I 100% understand the reasoning with a need to maintain roads, but, seems rather shady to promise all those savings then yank them away. Especially when the UK government is doing all they can to force Citizens into EVs.
All new cars will have to be electric or hybrid from 2030, when a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars comes into force. But some in the industry argue this new tax could make electric cars less appealing.
The OBR said the new charge was “likely to reduce demand for electric cars as it increases their lifetime cost”.
Huh.
I’m actually surprised:
I would have guessed the Brits would have GPS trackers installed to track mileage trackers, and who knows, that might happen anyway, just not at first.
I predict some entrepreneurial Brits will develop technology to roll back even electronic odometers.
ICE cars are a.ready taxed by the mile driven through the gasoline tax. That tax supports road maintenance. EV drivers don’t pay it, so without a mileage tax they are free loaders on the road system.