Pay per Mile Tax for EVs On the Way – Watts Up With That?

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

I’ve been forecasting this for a while:

From the Telegraph:

Electric vehicle (EV) drivers will be hit with a new pay-per-mile tax in the Budget, The Telegraph can reveal.

Under current plans, to be announced by the Chancellor on Nov 26, drivers of electric cars will be charged 3p per mile on top of other road taxes.

The scheme, set to kick in from 2028 after a consultation, will mean the average driver faces paying an extra £250 a year.

The Treasury will make the move amid falling fuel duty revenue as people move from petrol to electric cars. Up to six million people are set to be driving EVs by the time the tax comes in.

Full story here.

The enforced transition to EVs will eventually leave a £30 billion black hole. My guess is that the charge will have to rise to at least 10p to cover that shortfall.

The Telegraph explain how the system will work:

While the specifics are still discussed, The Telegraph can reveal that the scheme would be aligned to the annual payment of vehicle excise duty (VED), which affects all UK motorists. EV drivers have had to pay the charge since April.

The new element is being described as “VED+” and being framed as a way to get drivers of green cars to pay more each year.

EV drivers will be asked to estimate the number of miles they will drive in the year ahead and pay a fee, set in the current plan at 3p per mile.

If the owner does not drive that amount, some of the money carries over into the next year. If they drive more miles than estimated, they would top up their payment.

Presumably the driver would have to send a snapshot of his milometer each year when he renews his VED.

There are the inevitable howls of rage from the EV lobby, who thought they could sponge off the rest of us for ever. And there are rightful concerns that governments will ratchet up the charge year after year, much in the way they used to do with ciggies – all in our own interest, of course!