No, not most of them. From April 2028 an electric car pays eVED at 3p a mile, while a 45mpg petrol car pays 5.35p a mile in fuel duty today and 5.85p once the 5p cut ends in July 2027. At 7,400 miles a year that is £222 in eVED against £396 in fuel duty, rising to £433. The exception is the driver who relies on rapid chargers: counting 20% VAT on public charging, they pay 6.71p a mile, more than a 62mpg hybrid at 6.42p.
By the EV Cable Hub Research Team. Data: EV Cable Hub real-world fuel economy tracking, charging price tracker and Budget 2026 Driver Survey (1,214 drivers). Last updated November 2026. How we worked this out
Key findings
- A 45mpg petrol car pays 78% more duty per mile than eVED today, and 95% more once the 5p cut ends after July 2027.
- A petrol car would need 80.2 mpg to pay less duty per mile than eVED, or 87.8 mpg after the cut. The best of the 10 popular cars we track, the Toyota Yaris 1.5 Hybrid, does 62 mpg.
- Counting VAT, a 45mpg petrol car pays 8.84p a mile from August 2027. An EV charged mostly at home pays 3.51p.
- An EV charged only on rapid chargers pays 6.71p a mile in eVED and VAT, more than any petrol car doing 59.3 mpg or better.
- A typical plug-in hybrid (40% electric miles) pays 7.53p a mile in total tax.
- 58% of EV drivers call eVED unfair; shown the per-mile comparison, that falls to 44%. 47% wrongly thought eVED would cost more per mile than fuel duty.
| Car | Real-world mpg | Duty per mile (after July 2027) | Duty + VAT per mile (after July 2027) | Annual duty at 7,400 miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Yaris 1.5 Hybrid | 62 | 4.25p | 6.42p | £314 |
| Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI (diesel) | 58 | 4.54p | 7.26p | £336 |
| Toyota Corolla 1.8 Hybrid | 57 | 4.62p | 6.98p | £342 |
| Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 | 48 | 5.49p | 8.29p | £406 |
| Ford Puma 1.0 EcoBoost | 46 | 5.73p | 8.65p | £424 |
| VW Golf 1.5 TSI | 45 | 5.85p | 8.84p | £433 |
| Nissan Qashqai 1.3 DIG-T | 42 | 6.27p | 9.47p | £464 |
| BMW 320i | 39 | 6.76p | 10.20p | £500 |
| Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi | 38 | 6.93p | 10.47p | £513 |
| Range Rover Sport D300 (diesel) | 31 | 8.50p | 13.58p | £629 |
| Average EV, mostly home charged | 3.5 mi/kWh | 3.00p eVED | 3.51p | £222 eVED |
| Duty at 57.95p a litre after July 2027 (52.95p until then). Petrol 171.4p a litre, diesel 201.8p. EV figures apply from April 2028. | ||||
What eVED and fuel duty charge per mile
eVED will charge an electric car 3p for every mile from April 2028. Fuel duty is charged per litre, not per mile, so its per-mile cost moves with fuel economy. At 52.95p a litre, the rate with the 5p cut that runs to July 2027, a 45mpg car burns 0.101 litres a mile and pays 5.35p of duty. When the cut ends, the same car pays 5.85p a mile. We model no further rise, because the Budget did not announce one.
The breakeven is simple arithmetic: divide the duty per litre by 3p and multiply by 4.546 litres to the gallon. At 52.95p that is 80.2 mpg; at 57.95p, 87.8 mpg. No mass-market petrol car gets near that in daily driving.
Pence of fuel duty per mile
eVED: 3p a mile
Add VAT and where you charge decides the answer
VAT is where the comparison gets interesting, because electricity is taxed at two very different rates. Home charging carries 0% VAT while the household cut runs to July 2027, then 5%. Public and workplace charging carries 20%, confirmed in law from 1 November 2026.
An EV charged 90% at home and 10% on rapid chargers pays 3.51p a mile from April 2028: 3p of eVED and 0.51p of VAT. The rapid-only driver is the one case where the headline answer is yes. At 78p a kWh, 13p is VAT, which comes to 3.71p a mile on its own, more than eVED. Add the 3p and they pay 6.71p a mile, above the 6.42p a Toyota Yaris Hybrid pays in duty and VAT.
| Vehicle and charging | Road-use tax | VAT | Total per mile |
|---|---|---|---|
| EV, home blended tariff | 3p eVED | 0.16p | 3.16p |
| EV, 90% home and 10% rapid | 3p eVED | 0.51p | 3.51p |
| EV, public slow/fast AC only | 3p eVED | 2.57p | 5.57p |
| EV, rapid only | 3p eVED | 3.71p | 6.71p |
| Toyota Yaris 1.5 Hybrid, 62 mpg | 4.25p duty | 2.17p | 6.42p |
| Petrol, 45 mpg | 5.85p duty | 2.99p | 8.84p |
If you have no driveway, our study of the driveway divide shows what public charging adds to the bill beyond tax.
eVED vs fuel duty at five mileages
Both taxes rise in a straight line with distance, so the gap grows with every mile. For a 45mpg petrol car after July 2027 the difference is 2.85p a mile: £143 at 5,000 miles, £211 at 7,400, £285 at 10,000 and £571 at 20,000.
| Miles a year | EV eVED | Petrol fuel duty now | Petrol fuel duty after July 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | £150 | £267 | £293 |
| 7,400 (UK average) | £222 | £396 | £433 |
| 10,000 | £300 | £535 | £585 |
| 15,000 | £450 | £802 | £878 |
| 20,000 | £600 | £1,070 | £1,171 |
Diesels, plug-in hybrids and efficient EVs
Diesel and petrol carry the same duty per litre, so duty per mile at any given mpg is identical. Diesel's higher pump price means more VAT, though: a 45mpg diesel pays 9.35p a mile in total tax after July 2027 against 8.84p for petrol.
A plug-in hybrid pays 1.5p a mile in eVED, half the EV rate, plus duty on its petrol miles. Our typical PHEV, covering 40% of its miles on electricity, pays 7.53p a mile in total, up from 5.56p in 2026-27. How often it is plugged in decides most of that.
eVED is flat, so a Vauxhall Corsa Electric and an Audi Q8 e-tron pay the same 3p. Efficiency only shows up through VAT on electricity: on rapid chargers the Audi pays 8.00p a mile in total tax against the Corsa's 6.25p. 41% of drivers of EVs under £30,000 said the flat rate was what they disliked most.
Year by year, and what it means for the Treasury
| Driver | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol car, 45 mpg | 8.24p | 8.64p | 8.84p |
| Driveway EV (90% home, 10% rapid) | 0.37p | 0.47p | 3.51p |
| 2027-28 has four months at the old rates and eight at the new, after the fuel duty and household VAT cuts end in July 2027. | |||
From 2028-29 a 45mpg petrol driver pays £654 a year in duty and fuel VAT at 7,400 miles; a driveway EV driver pays £260 in eVED and electricity VAT, and an on-street EV driver £438. Each switch from petrol to a driveway EV takes £394 a year out of the tax take, down from £583 before eVED. That gap is the reason eVED exists: it replaces about half the duty the driver would have paid. See what the Autumn Budget 2026 means for EV drivers for every other measure.
What EV drivers think
58% of the 1,214 EV and plug-in hybrid drivers we surveyed in the four days after the Budget called eVED unfair, 24% fair and 18% unsure. Shown that a 45mpg petrol car pays 5.35p a mile in duty, the share calling it unfair fell to 44%. Nearly half, 47%, had believed eVED would cost more per mile than fuel duty.
Drivers also overestimate their bills. They expected £310 a year on average; at their own stated mileage the figure is £236, 31% lower. Our eVED calculator gives an exact figure for your mileage.
How we worked this out
Fuel duty per mile uses 52.95p a litre to July 2027 and 57.95p after, at real-world mpg from EV Cable Hub's fuel economy tracking. Fuel VAT uses pump prices of 171.4p a litre for petrol and 201.8p for diesel. EV figures assume 3.5 miles per kWh, a blended home rate of 11.1p per kWh (11.65p after July 2027) and our Q3 2026 public prices of 54p per kWh on AC and 78p on rapid chargers. eVED is modelled as a standalone charge from April 2028 on every mile driven. The survey of 1,214 UK drivers (982 battery electric, 232 plug-in hybrid) ran from 29 October to 1 November 2026, weighted by region and age.
eVED vs fuel duty: your questions answered
Will EV drivers pay more tax per mile than petrol drivers?
Mostly no. eVED's 3p a mile is less than the 5.35p of fuel duty a 45mpg petrol car pays today and the 5.85p it will pay after July 2027. Only drivers who charge almost entirely on rapid chargers pay more total tax per mile than the most economical hybrids, because of 20% VAT on public charging.
How much is eVED a year?
£222 a year at the UK average of 7,400 miles, or £18.50 a month, from April 2028. At 10,000 miles it is £300 and at 20,000 miles £600. Plug-in hybrids pay half.
What mpg does a petrol car need to pay less duty per mile than eVED?
80.2 mpg at today's 52.95p a litre, and 87.8 mpg after July 2027. The most economical popular car we track, the Toyota Yaris 1.5 Hybrid, does 62 mpg.
Does eVED include VAT?
No. eVED is a standalone 3p a mile. EV drivers still pay VAT on electricity: 0% at home until July 2027, 5% at home after that, and 20% on public and workplace charging.
How much eVED does a plug-in hybrid pay?
1.5p a mile, or £111 a year at 7,400 miles, from April 2028. Including fuel duty and VAT on its petrol miles, a typical PHEV pays 7.53p a mile, or £557 a year.
What happens when the fuel duty cut ends in July 2027?
6p a litre goes on petrol and diesel: 5p of duty plus 1p of VAT on it. For a 45mpg petrol car at 7,400 miles that adds about £45 a year.
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