UK Plans 3p-per-Mile EV Road Tax Starting in 2028

The UK government plans to introduce an electric vehicle excise duty (eVED) starting April 1, 2028, levying a charge of 3 pence per mile for battery electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and 1.5 pence per mile for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. This new tax will be imposed in addition to the existing Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), meaning electric vehicle owners will have to pay both taxes simultaneously. The move has sparked discontent among some vehicle owners. A petition submitted on the UK Parliament’s petitions website opposes the mileage-based taxation of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, arguing that regular commuters could face additional annual costs of approximately £750 and that implementing the policy too early might discourage EV adoption. The petition currently has 20 supporters and remains under government review; it is not yet open for public signatures. Several similar petitions have been filed previously but failed to reach the 10,000-signature threshold required for a formal parliamentary response. Based on the average UK driver’s annual mileage of 8,000 miles, owners of pure electric vehicles would pay roughly £240 per year in mileage-based tax. The government states that introducing eVED aims to offset declining fuel duty revenues caused by the growing uptake of electric vehicles, thereby safeguarding funding for road construction and maintenance. Critics, however, argue that electric vehicle owners already pay VAT through their electricity bills and now face total tax burdens comparable to—or even exceeding—those of conventional fuel-powered vehicles, amounting to double taxation.