In the UK, as in many other countries, the shift towards electric vehicles (EVs) has been rapid. Incentives, increased choice and some positive PR took the electric car sales to nearly 500,000 vehicles in 2025 – around 24% of the market. But the government’s budget in late November, which outlined new charges for EV owners, may have slammed the brakes on this momentum.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed that EV owners will face a new 3p-per-mile road charge from April 2028, marking a significant shift in how the government taxes cleaner forms of transport. The owners of plug-in hybrids will pay 1.5p per mile. These new levies will apply alongside other motoring taxes that EVs are also now required to pay.

This is the UK’s first major step towards replacing declining fuel-duty revenues, which have fallen as more drivers move from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric alternatives. The pay-per-mile tax is expected to raise more than £1 billion in its first full year.

These charges don’t mean that the government is cooling on EVs, however. Some sweeteners still remain. An electric car grant (ECG), launched in July 2025, offers up to £3,750 off eligible new electric vehicles and is aimed at keeping the transition to cleaner transport affordable for consumers.

But critics argue that introducing running-cost charges risk slowing EV uptake at a time when the government is still trying to accelerate the shift away from fossil-fuel vehicles.

And industry experts are warning that

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