Pay per mile. Another blow for EV drivers

[tsedge]

Not pay per mile but another exemption removed

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This is only the congestion charge zone in central London, not the wider ULEZ scheme that most people end up using. But at some point, they will charge for that too in order to maintain the revenue.

 

[salty]

This is only the congestion charge zone in central London, not the wider ULEZ scheme that most people end up using. But at some point, they will charge for that too in order to maintain the revenue.

But it's the start of a very slippery slope

 

[Gomev]

My own view is that this - if it comes at all - will not be implemented by cameras or tolbooths or black boxes on board cars. All of those kinds of solutions will be enormously expensive and costly and slow to implement.

The government will want something simple and easy to collect - so I think relying on insurance companies who already have to know your annual mileage, will be the way to do it, perhaps backed up by MOT data from year 3 onwards, which might also be used to beef-up insurance checks.

Clocking is already illegal and using the MOT data alone would unfairly target second hand car buyers.

This is simple enough - they wouldn't need to talk to the average car owner at all.

Failing this, they might require MOTs every year from new instead.

Yes, anything like this will incentivise clocking, so they may look at stronger safeguards there such as connected vehicles auto-reporting overall mileage, which could progressively come in as the fleet renews.

I agree that most of the proposed 'solutions' are way too complicated and relatively easily open to abuse. If we start with the simplest solutions:

1. MOT records mileage so problem solved from first MOT onwards.

2. Sale of cars is solved by simply making the recorded mileage compulsory on the V5 when notifying the transfer/sale. (Similar to how the wonderful road tax/VED works).

3. Pre MOT time follows slightly on from your comment about insurance companies. Although they don't actually know your annual mileage they only know the number you overestimate when taking it out. However it could be part of the process to make current odometer reading part of the quote process (for taxing purposes but superseded by MOT data when available) as well as your estimated mileage (purely for insurance purposes) for the year ahead.

Simples, no black boxes, no spyware in the car, uses existing processes. Still open to any other abuses such as clocking but which method wouldn't be ?

 

[Lovemyev]

All of the solutions that members are recommending, is making the governments job too easy don’t you think ?.
I guess the alternative is that they come up with some over complicated method, that costs millions to implement and then completely falls on its arse of course !.
We shall see all to soon I fear .

 

[tsedge]

Gosh, hadn't considered that.... righto...

We need a national network of mileage checking centres, purpose built and staffed for the total population of 30+ million cars.

Every week, everyone must make an appointment using a huge call centre and get their car checked so it can be recorded.

All checks must involve original polaroid photography sent by horseback to a central clearing centre built in a remote rural area of the UK.

How is that?

 

[salty]

Perfect!

 

[MG Clive]

That should just about do it @tsedge

 

[LenEV2016]

All of the solutions that members are recommending, is making the governments job too easy don’t you think ?.
I guess the alternative is that they come up with some over complicated method, that costs millions to implement and then completely falls on its arse of course !.
We shall see all to soon I fear .

The government wouldn't waste money like that!

Oh wait the England and Wales police and crime commissioners have proved really successful

 

[Archev]

Gosh, hadn't considered that.... righto...

We need a national network of mileage checking centres, purpose built and staffed for the total population of 30+ million cars.

Every week, everyone must make an appointment using a huge call centre and get their car checked so it can be recorded.

All checks must involve original polaroid photography sent by horseback to a central clearing centre built in a remote rural area of the UK.

How is that?

Careful what you wish for

 

[EVsince2016]

Enjoy it while we can. After the 3p per mile, the next tax will be the weight of an EV, followed by parking charges based on weight and/or size and then the inevitable increase on them all. The government don't see motorists as needing cars because public transport is pants and not fit for purpose unless your in London. Birmingham or Manchester we are just cash cows. The irony of course is they get chauffeur driven ICE cars at our expense to travel a few hundred yards, so will never know the cost of motoring.

The French are going for bonnet height instead

 

[Everest]

The French are going for bonnet height instead

They'd make a lot more money if they based it inversely proportional to distance between vehicles on motorways

 

[PeterHR2]

They'd make a lot more money if they based it inversely proportional to distance between vehicles on motorways

Not just motorways. Don't you just love the tailgaters in a 30mph limit dying to overtake you the moment the limit raises to 40 or 50mph?

 

[tsedge]

The French are going for bonnet height instead

Does this incentivise bonnet removal??

 

[Archev]

Does this incentivise bonnet removal??

Only when there’s low hanging froots or ladies present

Mi jacket’s right here

 

[Lovemyev]

The French are going for bonnet height instead

What a great idea then the VED on a Ford Ranger would be £1.000 and on a Lambo it would be £5 for 12 months !.
That makes perfect sense of course.

 

[Lovemyev]

Gosh, hadn't considered that.... righto...

We need a national network of mileage checking centres, purpose built and staffed for the total population of 30+ million cars.

Every week, everyone must make an appointment using a huge call centre and get their car checked so it can be recorded.

All checks must involve original polaroid photography sent by horseback to a central clearing centre built in a remote rural area of the UK.

How is that?

They could send off the paperwork by Royal Snail but don’t forget to add 1,000 miles to the figure you submitted, because it will take that long to get there !

 

[tsedge]

Would be interesting to base a tax on front radar (or equivalent) inversely proportional to the average distance to the car in front. Tailgaters, impatient drivers and space closers would all pay a lot more.

 

[Lovemyev]

I have had drivers tailgate me SO closely in a 20Mph limit set in Wales, that I thought they had mistaken me as a taxi and jumped in the back !.
Given up counting how many times I have been overtaken and the horn blasted.

Here are some of the figures recorded.

In North Wales alone !.
over 44,000 motorists were caught speeding by average speed cameras between 2022 and 2024, while 36,710 were caught speeding on 20mph roads in 2024 alone. More than 250,000 drivers have been caught speeding in North Wales over the last five years (2019-2023), making it the worst area in Wales for speeding.

When we bought our S5 from a dealer over the English border, the sales guy went through all of the settings in the head unit with me.
Asking which features I wanted turning ON and OFF.
When we came to the "over speed warning" I asked him to leave it activated, he then gave me a strange look.
I then explained that we live over the border in Wales and have 20 Mph limits in complete abundance !.
"Aarrhhh ...... I get it now" he replied.
Catching people in 20 Mph limit, is like catching fish in a bucket over here in Wales.
I do have some sympathy for people who live close to the borders and are crossing backward and forward, sometimes multiple times a day.
It's mainly 30 Mph limits in built up areas on the England side of the border, then this instantly drops down to 20 Mph as soon as you cross over the border into Wales.
Although the warning bong's can be a bit annoying, it does have it's good points.
Maybe in saving you collecting points on your licence thats for sure !.