EV pay-per-mile tax could ‘inflict severe damage’ on car industry

Ahead of Autumn Budget tomorrow, industry urges government to rethink plans for new EV tax and scrapping ECOS

The UK car industry has urged the government to rethink plans to impose a pay-per-mile tax on EVs or risk recent growth in the sector being “wiped out”.
The new tax, set to be detailed tomorrow (26 November) in chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Autumn Budget, is described by the Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT) as a measure that contradicts recent efforts to boost EV uptake, with the potential to “inflict severe damage” on the UK automotive industry.
The SMMT welcomed some of the government’s recent pro-automotive initiatives, including the implementation of a new £2.5 billion innovation fund; the securing of preferential treatment for automotive products in trade deals with the US and India; changes to the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate framework; and the recent introduction of the new Electric Car Grant (ECG).
These steps, the body said, are “evidence of government’s re