Electric vehicle owners will soon be taxed by the UK government for miles driven overseas, under a controversial pay-per-mile scheme confirmed this week.
The policy, formally known as eVED, will take effect in April 2028. From that date, EV drivers will be charged 3p for every mile they travel, while owners of plug-in hybrids will pay 1.5p per mile.
The government estimates the average EV driver will hand over roughly £240 a year once the scheme is fully up and running, with around six million electric vehicle owners expected to be paying it by the time it launches.
Taxed on Holiday, Not Just at Home
What has drawn the sharpest criticism is that the charge will not stop at the UK border. A consultation response published on Monday confirmed that mileage driven abroad will count toward a driver’s bill just the same as mileage driven at home.
Ministers defended the decision on privacy grounds, arguing that exempting overseas driving would require tracking drivers’ locations, something officials were unwilling to do. They also pointed out that foreign travel accounts for only about 2 percent of the total distance UK motorists cover each year, framing the inclusion as a minor add-on rather than a major burden.
Critics disagree. Ben Nelmes of New AutoMotive, an industry consultancy, called the arrangement “absurd,” pointing to the example of a family driving from Calais to the French ski resort of Val d’Isère, a trip that never touches a British road, yet would still land them with a tax bill of around £37.50, payable to the UK Treasury.
A Revenue Grab Dressed Up as Fairness
Chancellor Rachel Reeves first unveiled the scheme in last November’s Budget, and the government has consistently framed it as a matter of fairness. Petrol and diesel drivers already pay an average of about £600 a year through fuel duty, ministers note, and as fuel duty income shrinks with the ongoing shift to electric cars, they argue EV owners should start shouldering a comparable share of the cost of maintaining Britain’s roads.
The numbers involved are not small. Treasury forecasts put the scheme’s revenue at £1.1 billion in its first year, 2028-29, rising to £1.9 billion by 2030-31, a sizeable new income stream extracted from a group of drivers the government has spent years actively encouraging onto the roads through subsidies and tax breaks.
How It Will Work, and Where It Falls Short
Under the system, drivers will be charged according to an estimated annual mileage figure set in advance. Anyone who drives less than expected will see the difference credited toward the following year, while anyone who drives more will be billed extra.
There is, however, a significant gap in the design: the DVLA has admitted that outdated computer systems mean it will not be able to issue automatic refunds to drivers who overpay when the scheme first launches.
Labour has scrapped an earlier, more intrusive proposal that would have required independent mileage checks on EVs less than three years old. Instead, newer vehicle owners will simply self-report their mileage until their first MOT is due.
Industry Reaction Remains Lukewarm at Best
While Nelmes welcomed the decision to drop mandatory mileage inspections, he was far from enthusiastic about the scheme overall, warning that large parts of it remain “untested” and could end up dragging on both the Chancellor and the Transport Secretary. He urged ministers to slow down and reconsider before pressing ahead.
The government maintains that the policy will ultimately support the electric transition it claims to champion, noting that 80 percent of the revenue raised will be funnelled into £7.5 billion worth of EV incentives, including grants of up to £3,750 for new EV buyers that were already introduced last summer.
Whether that reassures drivers who now face a tax bill for holidays spent entirely outside the UK remains to be seen.
