Fuel duty raises roughly £24bn a year for the Treasury, and every petrol car that becomes an EV shrinks it. The government’s answer, proposed to begin in 2028, is a pay-per-mile charge for electric vehicles — reported at around 3p per mile for cars, collected alongside road tax. Here is what it does to the running-cost maths.
The honest arithmetic
Three pence per mile adds £3 to every 100 miles an EV drives. Using July 2026 prices:
| Cost per 100 miles | Today | With ~3p/mile levy |
|---|---|---|
| EV, charged at home off-peak | ~£2.30 | ~£5.30 |
| EV, lamppost charging | £9–£16 | £12–£19 |
| EV, public rapid charging | £17–£26 | £20–£29 |
| Petrol car (36mpg, E10 ~150p/L) | ~£18.90 | ~£18.90 (duty already included) |
The conclusion survives the levy: an EV charged at home remains far cheaper than petrol — about £5 versus £19 per 100 miles. But for drivers who rely on the public rapid network, the levy tips an already marginal comparison: rapid-only EV running costs would clearly exceed a petrol equivalent. That makes access to cheap charging — home tariffs and on-street lamppost chargers — the single biggest factor in whether an EV saves you money after 2028.
What is still undecided
- The final rate, and whether it varies by vehicle weight or type.
- How mileage is reported and verified.
- Whether it coincides with the mooted 5% VAT cut on public charging — the two policies together would roughly cancel out for public-charging drivers.
We will keep the numbers on this page current as details firm up — and our live searchalways shows today’s real prices for both fuels.