Three pence: a small charge per mile for an electric vehicle, but a giant conceptual leap for Britain.
Chancellors of the exchequer have long resisted any form of road pricing as politically toxic. That may be about to change next week: Rachel Reeves, perhaps inured to being pilloried for any money-raising proposal, is expected to introduce a charge explicitly linked to how far EVs drive.
The Treasury has all but confirmed some kind of charge will be announced at next week’s budget, but the details have not been revealed. According to an initial report in the Telegraph, EV drivers could from 2028 pay a supplement based on how far they had driven that year on top of their annual road tax, or vehicle excise duty (VED). That could be a self-declared estimate of distance or a check on the odometer at an MOT.
According to Department for Transport (DfT) figures, battery electric cars – with lower running costs than petrol – are used more: clocking up about 8,900 miles on average in 2024. At 3p a mile, that would bring in £267 a car from the 1.4m EVs currently on the road – about £375m a year in total.
View image in fullscreen The Treasury has all but confirmed that some kind of charge on EVs will be announced when Rachel Reev
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