Pay per mile. Another blow for EV drivers

[tsedge]

Relevant bits of the budget document:

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Google has just reported a surge of " how to clock an EV " search enquiries. .... Not anyone from here I hope?

 

[GaryMG4]

I recently inherited my dad's 2014 diesel Golf, only done 64,000 miles.

Had planned to swap it for an EV to become a 2 EV household, but it is only £35/yr VED and does 50mpg... and is cheap to insure.... and parts are cheap as chips.

So am thinking about just keeping it. I don't want to face up to £1000/yr VED every March with 2 EVs.

I had a similar dilemma, had an old Honda Jazz as a fishing/tip/horse feed car, only does around 2k miles a year. I had planned to replace it with a small electric van but the imposition of commercial VED meant I kept the Jazz and will not be going electric with its replacement.

 

[tsedge]

Or if it is an "honesty" system, a ton of cars hitting their first MOT with a big discrepancy between the taxed mileage and the actual.

 

[tsedge]

The government's argument is that the eVED is only about half the rate of fuel duty, so it still favours EVs.

But I think there is a big psychological difference: you don't see fuel duty, it is buried in the price as you incrementally fill up, whereas you do see your annual VED charge as a single sum even if you opt to pay it monthly.

Edit: ICE drivers already think EVs are expensive, I am worried this will give them something else to point at and say "I can't afford to run an EV".

 

[colsky]

Or if it is an "honesty" system, a ton of cars hitting their first MOT with a big discrepancy between the taxed mileage and the actual.

Or a ton of people selling their cars before the car is 3 years old?

 

[Ian Key]

Before you sell your EV here are some back of fag packet maths.

Assuming you get 50 mpg out of your petrol car which equals 11 miles per litre.
At the moment the average cost per litre of petrol is £1.36 which equals 12.36p/mile.

An EV getting 3 miles per kWh which costs 7.5p/kWh equals 2.5p/mile plus Rachael from accounts envy tax of 3p/mile equals 5.5p/mile.

At 6000 mile per year a petrol car would cost £741.60 in fuel and for an EV it's £330.

I haven't included vehicle excise duty as the tax on ICE vehicles has too many variables.

 

[Black estate]

Confirmed in the budget: 3p/mile charge for EVs from 2028, 1.5p/mile for plug-in hybrids.

Fuel duty frozen until September 2026, will rise in stages after that.

Wow my works commute will cost me a whopping £1:56 extra
What's a ltr of fuel at most places ?

 

[tsedge]

Or a ton of people selling their cars before the car is 3 years old?

Yes, that's what I was hinting at: imagine buying a 2.5 yr old car and then discovering the VED mileage wasn't delcared properly when you hit the 3 year point!

But, surely it won't be as braindead a scheme as this this, I hope?

 

[Black estate]

Before you sell your EV here are some back of fag packet maths.

Assuming you get 50 mpg out of your petrol car which equals 11 miles per litre.
At the moment the average cost per litre of petrol is £1.36 which equals 12.36p/mile

An EV getting 3 miles per kW which costs 7.5p/kW equals 2.5p/mile plus Rachael from accounts envy tax of 3p/mile equals 5.5p/mile

At 6000 mile per year a petrol car would cost £741.60 in fuel and for an EV it's £330

I haven't included vehicle excise duty as the tax on ICE vehicles has too many variables.

So my MG5 would cost me £148 to run a year or £28.58 a month with VED in + £42 ins
I do 26 miles each way to work once a week

 

[tsedge]

Before you sell your EV here are some back of fag packet maths.....

At 6000 mile per year a petrol car would cost £741.60 in fuel and for an EV it's £330

I haven't included vehicle excise duty as the tax on ICE vehicles has too many variables.

It is currently £195 minimum for a modern EV, £20 minimum for ICE. So potentially the gap narrows somewhat.

Then if you factor in ICE insurance which tends to be cheaper...

EVs still look cheaper but the argument is much harder to make.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Before you sell your EV here are some back of fag packet maths.

Assuming you get 50 mpg out of your petrol car which equals 11 miles per litre.
At the moment the average cost per litre of petrol is £1.36 which equals 12.36p/mile

An EV getting 3 miles per kW which costs 7.5p/kW equals 2.5p/mile plus Rachael from accounts envy tax of 3p/mile equals 5.5p/mile

At 6000 mile per year a petrol car would cost £741.60 in fuel and for an EV it's £330

I haven't included vehicle excise duty as the tax on ICE vehicles has too many variables.

You are being very generous with the mpg. The average over petrol and deisel cars is around 38mpg, which makes EV's even more economic.

 

[Ian Key]

It is currently £195 minimum for a modern EV, £20 minimum for ICE. So potentially the gap narrows somewhat.

My 2.0l diesel Focus was £245 and my mates 2.0l diesel Mondeo is £20.

You are being very generous with the mpg. The average over petrol and deisel cars is around 38mpg, which makes EV's even more economic.

I know. My Ford Focus would average 28 mpg and a lot of EV owners will get more than 3 miles/kWh.

 

[tsedge]

All of this assumes home charging. If you don't have that, EVs don't look great.

Edit: 84% of current EV owners have a charge point, which probably means most who don't have an EV yet can't have one. It would make sense that those who can take advantage of the cheap night rates have already done so.

 

[Lollipopman]

It would appear that following your MOT a bill will appear through your letter box with your reported mileage and charged @ either 3p or 1.5p pending on type of car you have. But I have until 2028 to decide whether I want a tandem cycle or a bloody good pogo stick with a strong spring or
but I'm sure they will find some sort of taxation for these!!!!.

 

[Nutnut]

I’m struggling to see the appeal of continuing to keep an EV for people like me who don’t benefit from at home rates? We may be in the minority but we do exist and already pay more since we rely solely on public charging, and now PPM on the top.

At the moment I’m thinking that going back to petrol will just be less hassle than fiddling about with a per mile charge

Maybe someone more economically savvy than me can still see an upside?

 

[tsedge]

Yes @Nutnut, I'd say this could be the tipping point for those without home charging options to avoid EVs for now.

Zapmap puts the average rapid charger cost as of 07/11/25 at 76p/kWh, which at 3 miles per kWh = 25.3p/mile fuel cost - or DOUBLE petrol/diesel.

Now, hunting around could potentially halve costs depending on the availability of cheap chargers, but then you are back at ICE costs plus the 3p/mile and a big lack of convenience.

Edit: And I am ignoring huge EV depreciation, which is the biggest cost of all for some.

 

[Hallix73]

And introduced 3p/miles EV tax.

I think that had to come at some time due to the duty on fossil fuels.
However the EV Grant saving and road tax saving on cars upto £50k now could really offset that charge over a number of years. I was looking at the MGS6 and also the Scenic Icon but didnt want to pay over £600 a year on road tax.
As long as home charging costs remain very low, EV's are still very cost efficient.

 

[Lollipopman]

Is there such a thing as a tandem shovel? I think reeves and starmer have just dug their own graves.

 

[tsedge]

I think that had to come at some time due to the duty on fossil fuels.

Yes, but I would argue this is the wrong time if they want to increase adoption.

However the EV Grant saving and road tax saving on cars upto £50k now could really offset that charge over a number of years. I was looking at the MGS6 and also the Scenic Icon but didnt want to pay over £600 a year on road tax.
As long as home charging costs remain very low, EV's are still very cost efficient.

But you now will be paying £600/yr VED if you do a good annual mileage with the new charge.

Remember: home charging costs might be low but a big percentage of people can't charge at home. For them, this is probably the tipping point that means they will switch back or not go EV due to higher costs.