Do electric cars pay road tax?
Yes. They've paid it since 1 April 2025.
The change covered existing cars as well as new ones, so it caught owners who'd never paid a penny. gov.uk calls it vehicle tax. Most people call it road tax. The official name is Vehicle Excise Duty, or VED.
What a particular electric car costs you comes down to one thing. The date it was first registered.
| First registered | Vehicle tax in 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| 1 March 2001 to 31 March 2017 | £20 a year |
| 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2025 | £200 a year |
| 1 April 2025 onwards | £10 for the first year, then £200 |
Those are the rates for the 2026/27 tax year, which runs to 31 March 2027. Rates go up most Aprils, so check the year attached to any figure you read, including this one.
For the petrol and diesel equivalents, see car tax bands explained. There's more in our guide to MOT, road tax and staying legal.
What a used electric car costs to tax
There are three windows, and almost every used electric car sits in one.
Registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017, it's £20 a year. That's the same rate as a petrol car in the two lowest CO2 bands, and the old £0 band is gone.
Registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025, it's £200 a year. This is where most of the used market sits. A 2019 Leaf, a 2021 Zoe, a 2022 Model 3: all £200.
Registered on or after 1 April 2025, it's £10 for the first year, then £200. The £10 is the first-year rate for any car emitting 0 g/km. You'll rarely pay it yourself because year one is usually the dealer's problem.
That £200 is the standard rate, and it's the same £200 a petrol hatchback pays. Spread it over twelve monthly Direct Debits and it's £210, or pay £110 for six months.
The expensive-car supplement, and who escapes it
Start with the exemption, because it covers most of the used market.
An electric car registered before 1 April 2025 doesn't pay the expensive-car supplement. Not at £45,000, not at £90,000. gov.uk sets two conditions and both have to be met: "you have a zero emission vehicle" and "the vehicle was registered before 1 April 2025". Plenty of rival guides quietly skip the second one.
For the cars that do pay it, the supplement is £440 a year on top of the standard rate. It runs for five years from the second time the car is taxed, which in practice means years two to six.
The threshold depends on the fuel. A petrol, diesel or hybrid car is caught if its list price was over £40,000. An electric car is caught only above £50,000. That electric threshold rose from £40,000 on 1 April 2026, and it was applied back to electric cars registered from 1 April 2025.
So an affected car pays £640 a year during those five years, electric or not, but far fewer electric ones are affected.
One narrow case is worth knowing. Take an electric car registered between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, listed between £40,001 and £50,000. If it was taxed a second time before 1 April 2026, it pays the supplement for that one year and then stops.
How to check what a specific car will cost
You don't have to take a seller's word for any of it. Our free car check needs the number plate and nothing else. It shows whether a car is taxed today, plus its historical road tax status and the full MOT record.
A plate can't tell you the list price when the car was new. You need the exact trim and the options it left the factory with. A dealer should have it to hand. On a private sale, look up the original brochure price before you commit.
I'd check the first-registration date before I budgeted a penny for tax. On a used electric car it decides more than the rate table does.
You also have to tax a car even when there's nothing to pay. gov.uk says you must tax a vehicle even if it's exempt and nothing is due. Electric cars aren't exempt any more, so that now means a real payment rather than a £0 renewal.
Hybrids, electric vans and electric motorbikes
Hybrids don't get a discount any more. The £10 a year that came off alternative-fuel cars has gone. A hybrid registered on or after 1 April 2017 pays the same £200 standard rate as everything else. An older hybrid pays the rate for its CO2 band.
Electric vans pay the standard light goods vehicle rate, which is £360 for twelve months.
Electric motorbikes pay £27 for twelve months, the same as the smallest engine size.
Buying rather than just taxing? Our guide to buying a used electric car covers battery health, charging costs, warranty transfer and the rest.
Pay-per-mile tax from April 2028
A second charge is coming, and it isn't here yet. It's called Electric Vehicle Excise Duty, or eVED, and it's charged by the mile.
The government confirmed the detail in July 2026. From 1 April 2028 a fully electric or hydrogen fuel cell car pays 3p a mile. A plug-in hybrid pays 1.5p a mile. You'll renew it alongside your ordinary vehicle tax.
Paying it means giving an odometer reading and estimating your mileage for the year ahead. You can pay up front or spread it, and a reading at year end settles the difference.
Nothing is payable before April 2028. Any guide implying you owe pay-per-mile tax today is wrong.
FAQs
Do electric cars pay road tax in 2026?
Yes. They've paid it since 1 April 2025, and the change covered existing cars as well as new ones. Most used electric cars pay £200 a year. Ones registered before April 2017 pay £20 a year instead.
How much is road tax on a used electric car?
It depends on when it was first registered. Registered between March 2001 and March 2017, it's £20 a year. Registered between April 2017 and March 2025, it's £200 a year. Registered from April 2025, it's £10 for the first year and £200 after that.
Do electric cars pay the expensive car supplement?
Only if they were registered on or after 1 April 2025 and listed above £50,000 when new. An electric car registered before that date never pays it, whatever it cost. The charge is £440 a year, for five years from the car's second tax.
Do hybrids still get cheaper road tax?
No. The £10 alternative-fuel discount has been scrapped. A hybrid registered on or after 1 April 2017 pays the £200 standard rate, the same as a petrol car. An older hybrid pays the rate for its CO2 band.
When does pay-per-mile tax start for electric cars?
On 1 April 2028. The rate will be 3p a mile for fully electric cars and 1.5p a mile for plug-in hybrids. You'll give a mileage reading and an estimate for the year ahead when you renew. Nothing is due before then.
Do electric vans and motorbikes pay road tax?
Yes, both of them. An electric van pays the standard light goods vehicle rate of £360 for twelve months. An electric motorbike pays £27, the same as the smallest engine size.