EV owners and road tax

Electric vehicles have been free from road tax but that is all about to change in the coming tax year. From April 2025, EV will be no longer be free from road Tax.

Depending on when your vehicle was first registered, you you will be paying a slightly different rate.

First registered before 31 March 2017: You'll pay £20 a year (based on 2025/26 rates) Registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025: You'll pay £195 a year (based on 2025/26 rates)

Registered on or after 1 April 2025: You'll pay £10 in the first year, then £195 a year (based on 2025/26 rates)

However, there is an additional rate (expensive car supplement) for new electric and zero emission vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2025 with a list price exceeding £40,000. This is currently £410 a year which is payable on top of the standard rate above, starting from the second year the vehicle is taxed.

For example, if you brought a new vehicle for £50,000 that was first registered on the 1 April 2025, you would pay £ tax in year one, then the standard rate of £195 plus the expensive car supplement on top which is currently £410 for the next five years.

CJBK has some advice, if your vehicle was registered on or after 1 April 2017, make sure to re-tax before 1 April 2025 but to ensure the maximum benefit, be sure to re-tax in March. This means you will push back the deadline for paying tax on your EV to when it is next due for renewal in a years time from the renewal (preferably March 2026), In essence, this will give you an extra year of free tax.