‘The timing is still wrong’: EV industry reacts to softened pay-per-mile tax

Fleet and consumer groups welcome the scrapping of mileage checks for newer cars, but warn the eVED charge still risks stalling the switch to electric.

Industry leaders have given a mixed verdict on the Treasury’s response to its consultation on Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED), the pay-per-mile charge on electric and plug-in hybrid cars due to take effect from April 2028.

In its consultation response published this week, the government confirmed it will not press ahead with mandatory mileage checks for cars under three years old. It has also simplified the rules for fleets and leasing companies, including bulk licensing and estimated mileage readings.

The concessions have been broadly welcomed, but several industry bodies argue the fundamental problems with the tax remain, from questions over its deliverability to warnings that it will make electric cars more expensive to run at exactly the wrong moment.

Tanya Sinclair, CEO of Electric Vehicles UK, said the changes showed ministers had paid attention. “Government has listened where it matters. Dropping mandatory mileage checks for cars under three years removes a significant speed bump,” she said, adding that the fleet measures “recognise the practicalities of how fleet operators work”. But she warned that drivers still face “a mix of incentives, taxes, grants and policies which don’t clearly echo its vision of an all-electric future”.

Ben Nelmes, CEO of New AutoMotive, was blunter. “Much of the wider package remains untested and risks becoming an albatross around the neck of the next Chancellor and transport secretary,” he said.

“It is absurd that families heading off on holiday will be taxed by the UK government for driving on French roads. It is staggering that the DVLA’s legacy computers are unable even to process a simple automatic refund when someone sells or scraps their car – that in itself should be a massive red flag for the incoming government about the deliverability of this policy. New ministers should pause, take stock and get this right.”

A tax with the rough edges filed off

Toby Poston, CEO of the BVRLA, said the government had “taken some of the roughest edges off its eVED plans” and accepted that “a tax designed around private motorists won’t work for the fleets that are driving the UK’s transition to electric vehicles”.

“But there is no avoiding the fact that you can’t create a smooth switch to electric vehicles by making them more expensive to own,” he added. “The mechanics of the tax may have improved, but the timing is still wrong.”

Voltempo CEO Simon Smith called scrapping the under-three-year checks “the right call”, noting the original proposal would have taken leased and rental vehicles off the road “for checks that added cost, not value”. His caution was on delivery: “Guidance, systems and the MOT network all need to be ready well before April 2028.”

The strongest criticism came from EVA England, which has previously warned the scheme will hit rural drivers hardest. CEO Vicky Edmonds said: “This policy still does not work for drivers. The Government has made one welcome change for newer EVs, but the wider scheme remains too complex, risks leaving people out of pocket and fails to give drivers the confidence they need.

“Ministers should be making the system simpler, fairer and easier to understand, not pressing ahead with a policy whose key faults remain unresolved. This now piles pressure on the public charging review that really needs to work for drivers and pave the way for affordable charging.”