The planned new EV tax as reported is so badly constructed that it’s going to alienate most electric car drivers.
Those who’ve made the switch, of which I’m now one, are under no illusion that a version of fuel duty will eventually catch up with them.
But the system as proposed and reported includes none of the modern nudge features that make electric car ownership so satisfying.
The idea is that drivers will pay per mile, which on the face of it is the right way to construct it. But the proposal that we’ll pay in advance on an ‘estimated’ amount and then try to claim back for any miles not travelled is the opposite of the clever gamification EV owners have learned to exploit for gain.
On a basic level, that gamification means charging at night for cheaper rates, but clever tariffs such as Intelligent Octopus Go can also fill the car for a cut-price rate at any time there’s an excess of renewable energy. Charger networks will ping an alert to their users that low rates are on offer for the next few hours for the same reasons.
In the future, electricity companies will be able to suck energy back from EVs to balance the grid, resulting in money back for the EV owner. Those with solar panels can almost charge for free.
A blanket number of miles per year is the complete opposite of this. Where is the nudge to encourage off-peak driving with cheaper rates? The nudge to save energy by driving more efficiently? Even petrol and diesel drivers enjoy that one, with less fuel duty paid as a result.
It’s clear why the Labour government is proposing this particular method. It’s cheap and doesn’t seem like the government is tracking your every movement. But the way it’s being proposed runs counter to the digitally enabled give-and-take that’s become part of EV owners' everyday lives.
This method is just a blunt stick. Even road tolls would be smarter.
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They want us to say 'no' to paying in advance so they can so ok, we're listening to motorists (like good little ministers), you don't want to pre-pay so you can pay as you go. You'll be tracked and your vehicles mileage will be uploaded on a quarterly basis. Cheers then.
So,pay for what mileage you do?, shouldn't high milers pay more?, I only do about 5000 a year now so why should I pay the same as 50,000 driver ?
So, where will the Government recover their lost Tax from as gradually as more and more and more Ev's replace ice cars?, there not just going to let it go, where would they find the money for keeping our Road network open?
I think your use of the word "gradually" would be sensible. Reward early adopters and people to make the shift then gradually increase the taxation on EV drivers as ICE is phased out.
Various governments turned the incentives tap off too soon sadly.
This needs stopping. Pay per mile will creep into affecting every car driver. They will expand ULEZ cameras to enable them to fine you. They will be able to tell you where you can go, when you can go, how fast you can go and whether you can go at all. I don't understand why anyone would volenteer to be restricted in such a way. You will get the situation where people will be prevented from driving either by cost, or the will of the government. Freedom of movement is being severely resricted bit by bit.