EV Pay-Per-Mile Tax Calculator (eVED, from 2028)

The EV pay-per-mile tax - officially Electric Vehicle Excise Duty, or eVED - is a new per-mile charge on electric and plug-in hybrid cars that starts in April 2028. Fully electric cars will pay 3p for every mile driven and plug-in hybrids 1.5p per mile, roughly half what a petrol or diesel driver pays in fuel duty. For the average electric car covering around 8,500 miles a year, that works out at about £255 on top of the standard £195 road tax - and our EV pay per mile calculator shows exactly what your own annual figure will be.

What is the EV pay per mile calculator and how much will eVED cost?

The EV pay per mile calculator is a free tool that estimates how much Electric Vehicle Excise Duty you will owe once the scheme begins in April 2028. You enter your expected annual mileage and the type of car you drive, and the calculator multiplies your miles by the per-mile rate the Treasury confirmed at the Autumn Budget 2025. It is the quickest way to see how the move to a pay per mile tax changes the running cost of an electric car or plug-in hybrid before the rules take effect.

The headline numbers are simple. A fully electric car pays 3p per mile. A plug-in hybrid pays 1.5p per mile, because it still buys some petrol or diesel and therefore already pays a little fuel duty at the pump. Both figures were set deliberately at around half the equivalent fuel duty cost, so EV drivers continue to pay less per mile than someone running a combustion-engine car - they simply stop being entirely exempt from a usage-based charge.

• Starts: April 2028, confirmed at the Autumn Budget 2025.
• Rate: 3p per mile for fully electric cars, 1.5p per mile for plug-in hybrids.
• Average bill: about £255 a year for a typical EV driver covering 8,500 miles.
• On top of road tax: electric cars already pay standard Vehicle Excise Duty of £200 a year since April 2025.
• No trackers: you estimate mileage and pay upfront or in instalments, then confirm actual miles at year-end. There is no requirement to report where or when you drive.
• Checks: recorded mileage is verified at your annual MOT.
• Revenue: the OBR forecasts eVED raises £1.1bn in 2028-29, rising to £1.9bn by 2030-31.

Why is the government introducing an electric car road tax in 2028?

For years, fuel duty has been one of the Treasury's biggest revenue streams. Every litre of petrol or diesel carries 52.95p of fuel duty, and a typical petrol car doing around 40mpg hands over roughly 6p in duty for each mile it covers. As drivers switch to electric, that revenue disappears - an electric car plugged in at home pays no fuel duty at all. The electric car road tax 2028 reforms are the government's answer to that shrinking tax base.

Rather than raise fuel duty on the falling number of combustion drivers, the Treasury chose a usage-based eVED charge that grows naturally as the EV fleet expands. The OBR's forecast that eVED will raise £1.1bn in its first year and £1.9bn by 2030-31 shows why ministers see pay per mile tax as a durable replacement. It also keeps a basic principle of road taxation intact: the more you drive, the more you contribute towards the roads you use.

Importantly, eVED sits alongside - not instead of - the standard road tax that EVs already pay. Since April 2025, electric cars have paid the same £200 standard Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) as petrol and diesel cars. From April 2026 the Expensive Car Supplement threshold rises from £40,000 to £50,000, which softens the blow for buyers of mid-priced electric models that previously tipped over the old £40,000 line.

How the EV pay-per-mile calculator works

The calculator turns the announced rates into a personal estimate in three steps. First, you tell it your expected annual mileage - the same figure you would give an insurer. Second, you choose whether your car is fully electric or a plug-in hybrid, which sets the rate at 3p or 1.5p per mile. Third, the tool multiplies the two together to produce your annual EV mileage tax, then adds the £200 standard VED so you can see your total annual motoring tax in one place.

Because the scheme lets you pay upfront or spread the cost in instalments, the calculator also breaks the figure down into a rough monthly amount. That mirrors how the real system is expected to work: you estimate your mileage at the start of the year, pay accordingly, and then submit your actual mileage at year-end. If you drove more than you estimated, you settle the difference; if you drove less, the balance is reconciled. Your odometer reading is checked at the annual MOT, so there is no separate tracking device and nothing reporting your journeys.

The table makes the trade-off obvious. A low-mileage city EV driver pays very little under eVED, while a high-mileage commuter or rep doing 20,000 miles a year faces £600 on top of standard road tax. Plug-in hybrids consistently pay half the electric-car figure, reflecting the fuel duty they still contribute at the pump.

How much more will EV drivers pay compared with petrol?

Even after eVED, electric driving remains the cheaper option on tax. A petrol car at 40mpg pays around 6p per mile in fuel duty alone; a fully electric car under eVED pays 3p per mile, and a plug-in hybrid 1.5p. So the new charge closes roughly half the gap with combustion cars rather than wiping out the advantage of going electric.

Put another way, the average EV driver's £255 eVED bill is broadly comparable to what a petrol driver covering the same 8,500 miles pays in fuel duty over a year - but the EV driver still avoids paying duty on every litre and continues to benefit from lower electricity costs per mile, especially when charging at home on an overnight tariff. If you run a company vehicle, the bigger savings often come through Benefit-in-Kind rules, which you can model with our company car tax calculator, and through arrangements like a salary sacrifice calculator for an EV lease.

Do plug-in hybrids pay the same pay per mile tax?

No - plug-in hybrids pay half the rate. The plug-in hybrid road tax under eVED is 1.5p per mile rather than 3p, because a PHEV still uses petrol or diesel for part of its driving and therefore already pays fuel duty whenever it fills up. The 1.5p figure is the government's way of avoiding double-charging hybrid owners for the miles they cover on their engine.

That distinction matters when you are weighing up your next car. A high-mileage driver choosing between a full EV and a PHEV will see a clear pay per mile tax difference: 20,000 miles costs £600 in eVED on an electric car but £300 on a plug-in hybrid. Against that, you have to set the PHEV's ongoing fuel costs and its typically higher Benefit-in-Kind rate, so the cheapest overall option depends on how much of your driving is genuinely electric.

How to keep your motoring costs down

eVED is fixed in rate, but how much you pay is entirely within your control because it is a usage-based charge. A few practical steps will keep your bill - and your wider tax position - as low as possible.

• Estimate your mileage honestly but tightly. Because you pay upfront on an estimate and reconcile at year-end, an accurate figure avoids overpaying early. Check your last few MOT certificates for your real annual mileage rather than guessing high.
• Claim business mileage you are entitled to. If you drive for work, approved mileage payments can offset running costs. Use our mileage allowance calculator to check what you can reclaim tax-free.
• Choose the right car for your mileage. A full EV makes sense for lower-mileage drivers who charge cheaply at home; very high-mileage drivers should weigh a plug-in hybrid's lower 1.5p eVED rate against its fuel costs.
• Mind the £50,000 supplement threshold. From April 2026 the Expensive Car Supplement kicks in above £50,000, so a car priced just under that line avoids years of extra VED.
• Look at how you fund the car. An EV taken through salary sacrifice or as a company car can dramatically cut the tax you pay overall - model it with the company car tax calculator and check the knock-on effect on your take-home pay calculator.
• Keep an eye on frozen thresholds. As wages rise but tax bands stay still, more of your income is taxed at higher rates - our fiscal drag calculator shows how that affects what you can afford to spend on a car.

You can read the full government proposal in the consultation on the introduction of Electric Vehicle Excise Duty, and check current standard road-tax rates on the official GOV.UK vehicle tax rate tables.

When does eVED start and what should I do now?

eVED begins in April 2028, so there is nothing to pay yet - but it is worth planning ahead if you are changing cars in the meantime. If you are buying or leasing an EV in 2026 or 2027, factor a future per-mile charge of around £255 a year for average mileage into your running-cost sums. For a clearer picture of your overall finances, combine your eVED estimate with our income tax calculator so you can see motoring costs in the context of your whole budget.

The numbers above are based on the rates confirmed at the Autumn Budget 2025. The detailed mechanics - how instalments are collected, how mileage is reconciled and how the MOT check operates - will be finalised through the government's consultation before launch, so treat your calculator result as a well-grounded estimate rather than a final bill.

This calculator and article provide an estimate based on the eVED rates announced at the Autumn Budget 2025. Figures are subject to final legislation and may change before the scheme begins in April 2028. This is general information, not personal tax advice.