Road Toll Proposal To Plug Electric Car Tax Shortfall
The title of this post is the same as an article in today’s copy of The Times.
Last year, tax on petrol and diesel raised £27.9 billion. As the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) is saying that all new cars and vans should be electric by 2030 or 2035 at the latest, it seems very likely that there will be a tax shortfall, as electric cars don’t pay fuel tax.
So the CCC is suggesting that road pricing be introduced
I predict that whichever government introduces it, they will lose the next election.
The Anonymous Widower 
They are clearly not reading the runes correctly or else propose a set of transport policies that are insane.
If every ICEV is replaced by a BEV it will be a massive Transport policy failure. 55% of peak traffic is less than 5km, the government should be getting as much of this to modal shift to either walking, cycling or Buses as possible, the advent of electric bikes solves much of the argument that the disabled cannot cycle (see Wheels for Wellbeing) while Buses can be rethought, using smaller electric buses eventually automatically driven and even call on demand. There are options for the other 45%, increased rail fare subsidies and thus cheaper fares should make the train a better option than the car for many.
Not every household can usefully use a BEV, the idea of street charging or charging stations solving this issue is nonsense, rapid chargers should be for long distance travellers who would probably have an EV to suit their transport profile. The main other benefit of havingt the BEV charged at home is that if the battery is not used to anything like capacity it can be used as grid storage for the National Electricity Grid (so called Battery to Grid), allied with Solar panels this means a partial solution to peak power requirements, lessening the need for Coal and Gas.
This does all mean that car drivers will have to adopt new social norms and banning ICEVs can come sooner rather than later but it is entirely necessary to reduce CO2 emissions and Air Pollution.
Comment by Tim Regester | October 18, 2019 |
I tend to agree that they’ve not thought this through. But the model will be very complex.
Take me. I live in the City and although I don’t drive because of my eyesight, I have a garage, which could be fitted with a charging point and solar panels on the roof.
Most new houses and flats built from a few years hence, will be to this specification. As most reasonably well-off drivers swap there cars every few years, I think with improving range take up will be good. Remember the car you drive says a lot about your status and many will want te latest high-performance electric car.
The problem is distance and for that you should use a train. Station car parks will increasingly have lots of chargers and as you say, car batteries will be used by the National Grid, as they will be in your garage.
I can see the government being short of revenue, as even filling up electric cars won’t be taxed, as that would discourage ownership.
I believe too, that city buses and delivery fleets will go hydrogen, mainly on cost and environmental grounds. So they won’t pay fuel tax.
Comment by AnonW | October 18, 2019 |
Most new energy efficient eco-housing has in fact very little if any parking.
The car was a 20th Century invention that really has had it’s day dominating our world.
The costs of the car have never ever been met by taxation, every taxed car on the road in the UK is subsidised by the taxpayer to at least a minimum of £1500 according to the UK Govt and the EU. Thus the loss of taxation is really a red herring, the amount of revenue raised from ICEVs does not even come close to meeting the costs of our traffic.
The solution of reducing traffic reduces the costs of maintenance of roads, policing and health disbenefits. This will more than balance out any loss of tax revenues.
Read the recent UK Parliament Science and Technology report on Climate Change and you can see part of the vision, we need a truly carbon free and ideally traffic free world, it can be done.
Comment by Tim Regester | October 18, 2019
It won’t be long before they start slapping tax on electric cars. With reducing numbers of diesel & petrol engined vehicles there will be a tax shortfall to recoup.
Comment by mauricegreed | October 18, 2019 |
They might do that, but then the clean air lobby led by The Times, Extinction Rebellion and the Heads of every school will be a lobby they can’t resist.
Intriguingly, if the average dwelling, has its own power source and batteries, which in total contribute perhaps 40 % of all UK power, how will Corbyn and his ultra-Marxist friends nationalise it? If you’ve spend £20,000 to put solar panels on your roof to power your two electric cars, you won’t want to give it to the government in return for a few worthless bonds.
The times they are a’changing!
Comment by AnonW | October 18, 2019 |
If you think Corbyn is an ultra Marxist you have a very warped view of Politics. In any Scandinavian country and probably much of Germany he would barely register as socialist.
Comment by Tim Regester | October 18, 2019