From April 2028, battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars will face a new mileage-based charge called Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED).
Crucially, this is designed to sit alongside existing Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), it’s not simply a replacement for annual road tax.
Under measures announced in the Autumn Budget, fully electric cars would be charged 3p per mile, while plug-in hybrids would pay 1.5p per mile. Both rates would rise each year in line with inflation.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the new levy is roughly half the fuel duty paid by drivers of petrol cars.
For a typical EV driver covering around 8,500 miles a year, the charge would add up to about £255 - £260 annually.
It’s easy to read “per-mile tax” and get concerned. But context matters and EV ownership still stacks up.
eVED is an additional charge, meaning drivers should expect it to be on top of whatever VED applies.
The official costings use an illustrative “typical” EV driver doing roughly 8,500 miles per year:
8,500 miles × 3p = £255 per year (roughly).
As more EV owners do the numbers and explore their options, this policy shift may actually accelerate demand for home and public charging - which is good news for the EV-charger industry (and for companies like ours).
For many households, a home chargepoint remains one of the best upgrades for EV ownership.
It makes charging more routine, cheaper (especially off-peak), and allows EV owners to become far less reliant on public infrastructure.
Though the new tax adds a recurring cost, EVs can still be a strong value proposition, particularly when you look at total cost of ownership over several years.
The per-mile charge is relatively small, electricity prices tend to be cheaper (and often more stable) than petrol or diesel, and EVs typically cost less to maintain and run.
Put simply, owning, and charging, an EV is still likely to be cheaper and more predictable than running a conventional car, especially for drivers who charge at home, or take advantage of off-peak tariffs.
If anything, the change could nudge behaviour in a positive direction: investing in a dependable home charger, timing charging to low-cost periods, planning around cheaper public charging, and avoiding costly liquid-fuel refuelling altogether.
This will be positive for your pocket, and for the planet.
Details can evolve through consultations and implementation planning. Keep an eye on official updates so you can adapt early (and take advantage of any future incentives or infrastructure changes).
We believe that, while the new per-mile levy may grab headlines, the core benefits that make EVs both cost-effective and environmentally friendly remain the same.
For many drivers, particularly those who can charge at home and drive consistently, electric cars should still represent excellent value, while helping to support cleaner, greener travel for everyone.
