You will pay more road tax next year if you own any of these vehicles

Drivers of several popular vehicles will have to pay more road tax from next year, affecting millions of drivers.

From April 2025, electric vehicles will no longer be exempt from paying road tax, meaning electric vehicle owners will pay £190 a year to keep their silent cars legal on public roads.

The change may come as a shock to EV owners who may have been initially attracted by the cheaper running costs. However, the increasing ubiquity of electric vehicles means the shift brings them in line with petrol and diesel vehicles

READ MORE: Electric vehicle owners face up to £1 a minute charge for ‘idling’

The exemption was originally used as a way to encourage drivers to make the switch when electric vehicles were very much in the experimental phase of their development.

But with so many of them on the roads now, the Government has taken the position that the exemption must go

The top 10 best-selling electric cars in the UK in 2023 were:

• Tesla Model Y

• MG4 EV

• Audi Q4 e-tron

• Tesla Model 3

• Polar Star 2

• Volkswagen ID.3

• Kia Niro Electric

• BMW i4

• Volkswagen ID.4

• SKODA Enyaq iV

Owners of electric cars registered between April 2017 and March 2025 will be left with a £190 bill to pay, although the government says the rate is still subject to change.

It said: “From April 1, 2025, drivers of electric and low-emission cars, vans and motorcycles will have to pay vehicle tax in the same way as drivers of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This change will apply to both new and existing vehicles and will ensure that all drivers start paying a fairer tax contribution.

“Electric and low-emission cars registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025: you will pay the standard rate. This is £190 for 2024 but subject to change for 2025”.

Also next year, Transport for London is scrapping the EV exemption for the London Congestion Charge zone, meaning every electric vehicle will be subject to a £15 per day charge. The change will affect a part of the country that has had an exceptionally high use of electric cars for this very reason.

It is also due to scrap the exemption for hybrid vehicles in 2021, which now have to pay to enter central London like all other vehicles.

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