An electric car at average mileage, listed under £40,000 and registered in 2025-26, paid £10 in road tax in its first year and will pay £432 in 2028-29, once 3p-a-mile eVED is added to standard VED. Over £40,000, the same car pays £902 that year. Here is every VED rate, the expensive car supplement and eVED in one place, for every registration date and price band.
By the EV Cable Hub Research Team. Data: EV Cable Hub modelling of published VED rates, the eVED rate confirmed in the Autumn Budget 2026, price tracking of 412 new EV trims and a survey of 1,214 drivers. Last updated November 2026. How we worked this out
Key findings
- An average-mileage EV registered in 2025-26 under £40,000 pays £10 in 2025-26, £200 in 2026-27, £205 in 2027-28 and £432 in 2028-29.
- Over £40,000, it pays £640 in 2026-27 and £902 in 2028-29, because the £440 expensive car supplement runs from year two to year six.
- eVED adds £222 a year at 7,400 miles from April 2028: just over half the road tax bill for an EV under the threshold.
- For EVs first registered from 1 April 2026 the supplement threshold is £50,000, which takes 19% of new EV trims out of it.
- 46% of the 412 new EV trims on sale on 31 October 2026 were listed over £40,000 and 27% over £50,000.
- Older EVs registered before April 2017 pay £20 a year until eVED arrives, then £242 a year at average mileage.
- Only 61% of drivers knew electric cars now pay VED.
| Registered | List price | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 | Five years 2026-27 to 2030-31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2001 to Mar 2017 | Any | £20 | £20 | £20 | £242 | £766 |
| Apr 2017 to Mar 2025 (2023-24 car) | Under £40,000 | £195 | £200 | £205 | £432 | £1,716 |
| Apr 2017 to Mar 2025 (2023-24 car) | Over £40,000 | £620 | £640 | £660 | £902 | £3,081 |
| Apr 2025 to Mar 2026 | Under £40,000 | £10 | £200 | £205 | £432 | £1,716 |
| Apr 2025 to Mar 2026 | Over £40,000 | £10 | £640 | £660 | £902 | £4,066 |
| From 1 Apr 2026 | Under £50,000 | - | £10 | £205 | £432 | £1,526 |
| From 1 Apr 2026 | Over £50,000 | - | £10 | £660 | £902 | £3,436 |
| VED, expensive car supplement and eVED combined, at 7,400 miles a year. Rates after 2026-27 are EV Cable Hub modelling of RPI rises. | ||||||
Three parts make up an EV's road tax
For most of the last two decades, electric cars paid nothing to tax. That ended on 1 April 2025, when zero-emission cars moved into vehicle excise duty. The Autumn Budget of 28 October 2026 then added a third layer, eVED, from April 2028.
From 2028-29 an EV owner's road tax is the sum of three parts: the standard VED rate; the expensive car supplement, if the car's list price was over the threshold when first registered; and eVED for every mile driven. 27% of drivers in our survey still thought electric cars were exempt.
The standard rate: £200 in 2026-27
The standard VED rate for an EV registered from 1 April 2017 is £200 a year in 2026-27, up from £195. We model it at £205 in 2027-28 after the RPI rise confirmed in the Budget, and £210 in 2028-29. New EVs pay £10 in their first year, then the standard rate.
It is the same flat rate a petrol, diesel or hybrid car of the same age pays. Since April 2025 there is no road tax discount for driving electric once a car is past its first year. Paying by monthly direct debit adds 5%.
The expensive car supplement: £440 a year for five years
The supplement adds £440 a year in 2026-27 to any EV listed over the threshold when first registered, from its second year to its sixth. For a car registered in 2025-26, the five payments total £2,350. A car listed at £39,995 pays the standard rate; one listed at £40,005 pays more than three times as much each year.
The list price includes options and VAT; dealer discounts do not count. The supplement follows the car, not the owner, so a used EV listed over £40,000 when new still pays it until its sixth year.
The £50,000 threshold for EVs registered from April 2026
For a fully electric car first registered on or after 1 April 2026, the supplement applies only above £50,000. That removes 79 of the 412 new EV trims on sale from the supplement. Plug-in hybrids, petrol and diesel cars keep the £40,000 line, and so do EVs registered before April 2026, which creates a cliff edge in the used market. The higher threshold saves the buyer of a £45,000 EV £2,425 across its five supplement years.
| Model and entry trim | Entry list price | Supplement? | 2028-29 road tax at 7,400 miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Model Y RWD | £44,990 | No | £432 |
| Tesla Model 3 RWD | £39,990 | No | £432 |
| Kia EV3 Air 58kWh | £33,005 | No | £432 |
| Skoda Elroq 50 | £31,500 | No | £432 |
| MG4 EV SE | £26,995 | No | £432 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 Premium 84kWh | £45,250 | No | £432 |
| Kia EV6 Air RWD | £44,975 | No | £432 |
| BMW i4 eDrive35 Sport | £51,280 | Yes | £902 |
| Audi Q4 e-tron 45 Sport | £50,220 | Yes | £902 |
| Polestar 4 Long Range Single Motor | £60,300 | Yes | £902 |
| Kia EV9 Air | £65,025 | Yes | £902 |
| List prices from EV Cable Hub price tracking, 31 October 2026. Upper trims of several models (Model Y Long Range, Ioniq 5 Ultimate, EV6 GT-Line S) cross £50,000 and pay the supplement. | |||
eVED from April 2028: 3p a mile on top of VED
eVED charges 3p a mile for EVs and 1.5p for plug-in hybrids from April 2028. At 7,400 miles that is £222 a year, and it is added to VED rather than replacing it. eVED equals the standard VED rate at 7,000 miles a year; above that, it becomes the bigger part of an EV's road tax bill.
The estimation tool, opt-in eVED Connect reporting and automated rebates by 2030 decide how you pay it. Our eVED calculator works out your bill, and eVED vs fuel duty compares it with what petrol drivers pay.
| Annual mileage | eVED | Total under £40,000 | Total over £40,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3,000 | £90 | £300 | £770 |
| 5,000 | £150 | £360 | £830 |
| 7,400 (UK average) | £222 | £432 | £902 |
| 10,000 | £300 | £510 | £980 |
| 15,000 | £450 | £660 | £1,130 |
| 20,000 | £600 | £810 | £1,280 |
EV vs plug-in hybrid vs petrol over six years
Over six years from a 2025-26 registration, an average-mileage EV under £40,000 pays £1,726 in road tax, a little more than a plug-in hybrid (£1,493) or a 111-130g/km petrol car (£1,490). The petrol car pays much more in its first year, and from August 2027 it also pays about £433 a year in fuel duty, which is why road tax alone does not decide the comparison.
| Car | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2028-29 | Six-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV under £40,000 | £10 | £200 | £432 | £1,726 |
| PHEV 1-50g/km under £40,000 | £110 | £200 | £321 | £1,493 |
| Petrol 111-130g/km under £40,000 | £440 | £200 | £210 | £1,490 |
| Petrol 151-170g/km under £40,000 | £1,360 | £200 | £210 | £2,410 |
| EV over £40,000 | £10 | £640 | £902 | £4,076 |
| Petrol 111-130g/km over £40,000 | £440 | £640 | £680 | £3,840 |
How to pay less EV road tax, legally
The biggest saving is buying a new EV listed at or under £50,000, which avoids five years of supplement: up to £2,425. After that, each 1,000 fewer miles saves £30 a year in eVED from 2028, and paying VED annually rather than monthly saves £10 to £32 a year. For the wider picture of running costs, see EV vs petrol: the true cost over five years.
How we worked this out
Rates for 2025-26 and 2026-27 are the published VED rates. Later years model RPI rises at 3.4%: the standard rate reaches £205 in 2027-28 and £210 in 2028-29, and the supplement £455 and £470. eVED is the 3p-a-mile rate confirmed in the Autumn Budget of 28 October 2026, applied from April 2028 at 7,400 miles a year. List prices come from EV Cable Hub's tracking of 412 new EV trims on 31 October 2026. The driver survey questioned 1,214 EV and plug-in hybrid drivers after the Budget.
EV road tax: your questions answered
Do electric cars pay road tax in 2026?
Yes. £200 a year at the standard rate in 2026-27 for an EV registered from 1 April 2017, or £10 in the first year for a new EV. EVs registered between March 2001 and March 2017 pay £20 a year, and EVs listed over the threshold pay the £440 supplement in years two to six.
What is the expensive car supplement for electric cars?
£440 a year in 2026-27, paid in years two to six on any EV with a list price over £40,000, or over £50,000 for EVs first registered from 1 April 2026. Over five years it adds £2,350 for a car registered in 2025-26.
Is the EV supplement threshold £40,000 or £50,000?
£50,000 for a fully electric car first registered on or after 1 April 2026; £40,000 for EVs registered before that and for all other fuel types, including plug-in hybrids.
Does eVED replace VED?
No. From April 2028 an EV pays eVED on top of VED: about £210 VED plus £222 eVED, £432 in total, for an average-mileage EV under the threshold in 2028-29.
How much road tax will my EV pay in 2028?
£432 for an average-mileage EV under the supplement threshold in 2028-29, and £902 for one paying the supplement. At 5,000 miles the under-threshold figure is £360; at 20,000 miles, £810.
Do I pay the supplement on a used EV?
Yes, if it was listed over £40,000 when first registered and is in its second to sixth year. The supplement follows the car, not the owner.
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