Currently reading: Car makers slam pay-per-mile EV tax as 'poorly timed'

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned that UK's new eVED tax is “the wrong measure at the wrong time”

Car makers have hit out at the UK government’s new pay-per-mile tax for electric and plug-in hybrid cars, warning that the consequent suppression of demand won't be negated by additional measures to boost EV sales.

The new mileage-based eVED tax, announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Autumn Budget speech on 26 November, is “the wrong measure at the wrong time”, said Mike Hawes, CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). 

Hawes voiced concern among the industry lobby group’s members that the replacement for fuel duty, due in April 2028, will make the job of hitting the UK's ZEV mandate targets even harder.

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