Andy Burnham has been urged to scrap a new car tax fee given the green light by Rachel Reeves. The new Prime Minister has been told to ditch the former Chancellor's controversial electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) charge, which would see EVs forced to pay 3p per mile from 2028.
The new charge could see some electric car owners paying as much as £300 to use the roads if they cover an average annual 10,000 miles. Hybrid cars are also affected, with owners set to be charged 1.5p per mile.
Industry Pushback
Peter Golding, CEO of FleetCheck, has demanded Mr Burnham look at the policy after the former Manchester Mayor made his first days in office about battling the cost of living. Peter said: “We’ve heard very little so far about transport from the new Prime Minister, but he does keep reiterating themes of being both business friendly and making life easier and less financially stressful for ordinary people.”
“Both the ZEV mandate and eVED would seem to us to fall into these categories. They are policies that are expensive and add complication for companies operating cars and vans, and for motorists, too.”
Industry has pushed back at the decision, with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) blasting the fee as the “wrong measure at the wrong time”.
Public Opinion
A previous poll from Express.co.uk found that the introduction of a pay-per-mile scheme would be hugely unpopular. Data shows that a whopping 86.73% of 21,000 respondents said they wanted a mileage-based system scrapped.
Meanwhile, a previous YouGov study found that just 43% of people strongly or somewhat supported the idea, with 34% against the scheme and 23% undecided over the idea.
Support for EV Owners
Mr Burnham has already announced support for electric car owners by cutting VAT on domestic electricity rates. Slashing VAT rates from 5% to 0% will help families with their electricity bills, but EV owners topping-up their battery at home will be impacted by the decision.
Experts at Carwow have warned the average electric car driver could save around £1.24 per charge. For someone topping up their car weekly, this would add up to roughly £65 per year.
