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BVRLA Chief Executive Toby Poston comments: The discussion around the UK’s transition to zero emission vehicles is heating up once more. Fuelled by global factors influencing gas and oil prices at a truly macro scale, alongside a dialling up of the debate around how and when the Government should review the first years of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate, eyes are firmly fixed on the current health of the switch to electric vehicles.
While the ZEV Mandate is the flagship policy impacting the transition, it cannot be considered in isolation. Wednesday saw the closure for input to another of the Government’s key policies in road transport decarbonisation: the proposed pay-per-mile regime for electric vehicles, named electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED).
The bigger news will come when the formal response to the consultation is delivered in the weeks – or months – that follow, but it is the collective input shared before last Wednesday’s deadline that will influence thinking and potentially prompt changes.
Thank you to all members that supported the BVRLA’s submission and shared views or evidence of their own (please let the team know if you submitted a response directly - email [email protected]).
The transition remains at a pivotal stage. BVRLA members and their fleet customers are driving adoption, normalising new technology and supplying the used market that will underpin mass uptake. That progress remains finely balanced; policy decisions taken now will have a lasting impact.
In the BVRLA’s submission on behalf of members, we highlighted that the Government’s proposed Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) risks tipping that balance in the wrong direction.
We have been consistent in the belief that this is the wrong tax at the wrong time.
For our sector, managing millions of cars, vans and trucks, including more than 750,000 electric vehicles, this is not a marginal issue. It requires a fundamental operational overhaul. Following extensive consultation with members to understand their views on the proposal, and potential business impact, we have estimated that the delivery of eVED will run into truly eyewatering sums.
Compared to the actual revenue the Duty would bring into the Treasury – estimated to be just over double the costs relating to administration and vehicle downtime – it becomes a very inefficient tax in design, delivery and collection.
Our representation to the consultation was grounded in reality and presented real-world resolutions. As much as we have been vocal about this being a poor solution, the reality is that the Treasury has a problem to solve. Fuel duty revenues will decline. A black hole will appear on HMT’s books. An alternative regime will be required.
Any changes to road pricing or driver duties must be built for the way fleets operate. That means digital-first solutions, flexibility in how costs are structured, and the ability to use trusted data providers. It means avoiding retrospective impacts, ensuring interoperability and creating a system that is simple, fair and proportionate.
Our direct engagement with government has been constant and collaborative on this topic. I wrote recently about our discussions with Exchequer Secretary Daniel Tomlinson and senior government officials. Our representation of members goes to another level tomorrow when I will give evidence to the Transport Select Committee.
There, I will be representing our sector and the views of our members in the “Supercharging the EV transition” session, alongside industry colleagues from EVA England, Autotrader, and the Energy and Climate Change Unit. The message I will take is clear: fleets are the engine room of EV adoption; policy must support – not hinder – that role.
Get this right and we can build a sustainable, future-proof road pricing system. Get it wrong and we risk slowing the very transition we are all working so hard to deliver.
This is a moment to listen, to collaborate and to set the stage for success.
Members can watch the Transport Select Committee, live or after its conclusion, via ParliamentLive.TV
