The Resolution Foundation and road pricing

[cromwell]

The government is expected to potentially lose lots ofincome if / when petrol and diesel engined vehicles disappear.

So to make up for the loss The Resolution Foundation (some charity / ngo) have said that electric vehicles whould be charged by the mile to use the roads. It's not a new idea and it is made possible by the fact that nearly all new vehicles are fitted with a GPS tracking device.

Apart from the fact that this is another brick in the wall of the surveillance state and means that all your trips in your EV will be recorded, the Resolution Foundation proposes that the rate motorists are charged per mile be set at 6p.

I used to do 10,000 miles a year when I was working. Today it is nearer 6,000 miles. 10,000 miles would mean EV drivers would be paying £600 a year; 6,000 miles would equal £360. That's more than I'm paying now for my road tax in a 1.6 Hyundai.

[Suff]

Yes but we can count and there are plenty of bodies out that who calculate out the cost on the road.

The more EV's on the road, the more this will hurt.

You know they have already addressed this in the luxury tax. Most EV's are more expensive than FF vehicles. Putting them over the £40k bracket. At which time they start paying £350 per year from year 2 onwards. My C4 grand spacetourer is in the £155 bracket or whatever they have increased that to.

So they will be getting a lot of tax out of these vehicles anyway.

When I looked up the 2.0l Citroen SpaceTourer MPV the top spec vehicle was £42,000. The year 2 to year 6 tax was £1,100 per year. Which just drivers people away from buying these vehicles. The tax for the newer base level 1.5l bluehdi version is now £180 and it comes in under the luxury tax.

The government is going to be making a lot of money on year 2-6 EV. Because the EV is cheaper to run even with double the tax of a FF vehicle, people will pay it.

[Workingman]

Many moons ago I predicted that the government would have to recoup the loss of VAT on fuel, but "ooh no, EVs were exempt".

The thing is that it is not only the Resolution Foundation saying these things. Members of HMG, motoring associations and opposition parties are also getting on board with their own ideas, and EV VED is on its way, bet on it.

The luxury tax is a different thing and is for ALL vehicles over £40k. https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/new-and ... nPf4D3c26Y

[Suff]

Of course VED is coming for EV. I've said that myself and I'm quite sure it will happen and happy for it to happen. Per mile? No. But certain bodies will try and force this through because this is what _they_ want, not what is needed.

I know the luxury tax is in all vehicles. The point is mid range EV is falling into luxury. The Golf FF is already close to the luxury tax and the ID.3, the variant has all models but the very lowest in the luxury tax bracket. The ID.3 is not a luxury vehicle by any means. It is a Golf replacement and the quality is budget not luxury.

The VW ID.2 will be well below the luxury level but it is more of a step between the Polo and the Golf. A bit like the Ford ranges that sit between the Fiesta and the Focus.

There is time for this to play out. EV vehicles will remain less than 30% of UK vehicle sales for a few years yet.

[Workingman]

FF vehicles will remain less than 30% of UK vehicle sales for a few years yet.

I think that should read EV vehicles...

I am not against EVs, but I am sick of the hype surrounding them. The worst is that they are zero-emissions - the excuse for their preferential treatment. They are anything but.

In the UK they get their electricity from the grid, and that is roughly 45% from gas. Then there is their manufacture, transport to sales sites, and, of course, the environmental damage the production of their batteries causes.

Zero-emissions my @r5e.

[Suff]

Zero emissions at the point of use. Also as the grid greens they are even less emissions.

Then the materials scare story. 80% of FF vehicle emissions come through use. The longer you use them the more they emit until the manufacturing emissions cost of a battery is trivial. If you keep an EV for 20 years and do 500k miles in it, the emissions cost of the battery is tiny compared to the emissions you have avoided. The more the grid remove CO2, Every EV reduces emissions. Whereas FF vehicles and hybrid vehicles will continue to spew emissions out to the day they hit the scrap yard.

But, still, EV need to pay their way with VED. No argument. It should not be an excuse for per mile payment.