EV road tax has been in force for over a year — what changed
Electric vehicles registered after April 2025 now pay standard VED, with the £40,000 'expensive car supplement' adding £410 a year.
By Money Guide editorial team
Published:
April 2025 ended the long-standing Vehicle Excise Duty exemption for electric cars. EVs registered on or after 1 April 2025 pay £10 in their first year and the standard £195 from year two onwards. EVs registered between April 2017 and March 2025 already pay the standard rate.
EVs with a list price above £40,000 also pay the £410 'expensive car supplement' in years two to six, taking the annual bill to £605. Many mid-sized family EVs sit just above the threshold, an issue HMRC is being lobbied to revisit.
Hybrids and ICE cars continue to be taxed on a CO2-based first-year rate plus the standard rate thereafter. Cars in the highest emissions band pay over £2,700 in year one.
Total motoring costs for EVs still typically come in below petrol equivalents over a four- to five-year ownership period, largely because home charging on an off-peak tariff remains far cheaper than petrol per mile.