Car tax
Car tax on an electric car
UK electric cars registered from April 2017 pay DVLA's standard rate of £200 a year after their first licence in 2026/27. The exemption ended on 1 April 2025; older electric cars use the rate for their registration period, and the expensive car supplement can apply to newer cars above its list price threshold.
£10
£200
£50,000
Checked on 1 April 2026.DVLA, V149: rates of vehicle tax from 1 April 2026 (as of 1 April 2026)
Do electric cars pay road tax?
Yes, since 1 April 2025. A new electric car pays a £10 first year rate and then £200 a year from its second licence. An electric car registered earlier moved straight onto the rate for its own registration period on that date.
Nothing about the charge is electric specific. The exemption was removed rather than replaced with a separate system, so an electric car is now taxed by the same three rules as everything else, decided by the date it was first registered.
Electric car tax by registration date
| First registered | First licence | Then, each year | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| On or after 1 April 2025 | £10 | £200 | Plus the supplement if the list price was over £50,000. |
| 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2025 | Paid at the time | £200 | No supplement, whatever the list price was. |
| 1 March 2001 to 31 March 2017 | Paid at the time | £20 | Taxed at the band B rate rather than the standard rate. |
The £50,000 zero emission threshold
- The expensive car supplement threshold for zero emission cars rose from £40,000 to £50,000 for any licence taking effect on or after 1 April 2026.
- It applies retrospectively, which is unusual. Most zero emission cars registered from 1 April 2025 are therefore not required to pay the charge at all.
- A zero emission car that took a second licence before 1 April 2026 pays one year of the supplement and nothing after that.
- The £40,000 threshold is unchanged for petrol, diesel, hybrid and plug in hybrid cars.
- Zero emission cars first registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025 pay the standard rate and no supplement.
What about the first year rate on a new electric car?
It is £10, the lowest rate in the table, and it is paid once at first registration. Compared with a 150 g/km petrol car at several hundred pounds, that gap is now the only place CO2 changes what a driver pays in vehicle excise duty.
DVLA, V149: rates of vehicle tax from 1 April 2026 (as of 1 April 2026); GOV.UK, Budget 2025 overview of tax legislation and rates, Annex A: rates and allowances (as of 1 April 2026); GOV.UK, Vehicle tax rate tables (as of 1 April 2026); GOV.UK, Increase in the Vehicle Excise Duty Expensive Car Supplement threshold for zero emission cars (as of 1 April 2026); GOV.UK, Vehicle tax for electric, zero and low emission vehicles (as of 1 April 2026); GOV.UK, Pay your vehicle tax by Direct Debit (as of 1 April 2026); legislation.gov.uk, Finance Act 2025 section 66: rates of vehicle excise duty, omitting the reduced rate for alternative fuel vehicles (as of 1 April 2025)
What does a 2018 electric car listed at £48,000 pay?
The standard rate, and no supplement. First registration in 2018 sits between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025, so the car pays £200 a year and the expensive car supplement does not apply, whatever the list price was. £48,000 would be over the £40,000 petrol threshold, which is why an otherwise identical 2018 petrol car at that list price pays the supplement in years two to six.
Example
A 2018 electric car with a list price of £48,000
- First registered
- 2018
- Fuel
- Electric
- Original list price
- £48,000
- Tax year
- 2026/27
- 2018 sits between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025.
- Those cars pay the standard rate of £200 and no expensive car supplement.
- £48,000 is also under the £50,000 zero emission threshold that applies to newer cars from 1 April 2026.
- A 2018 petrol car at the same list price would pay £640 in years two to six.
Tax it at £200 for twelve months. The list price does not add a supplement on this registration date.
What about a 2015 electric car, or a new one?
A 2015 electric car is in the lettered CO2 bands. Zero emission in that system is band B, £20 a year, not the standard rate. A 2015 diesel at 125 g/km is band D and pays £170 every year, which is why the old system still rewards a low CO2 figure for life.
Example
A new electric car first registered after 1 April 2025
- First registered
- On or after 1 April 2025
- Fuel
- Electric
- List price
- £48,000
- Tax year
- 2026/27
- The first year rate is £10, the 0 g/km row of the first year table.
- From the second licence it pays the standard rate of £200.
- £48,000 is under £50,000, so the expensive car supplement does not apply on a licence taking effect from 1 April 2026.
Year one costs £10. Year two onwards costs £200 at this list price.
How do I tax an electric car?
Use the GOV.UK vehicle tax service with a V11 reminder, the 11 digit reference from a V5C in your name, or the 12 digit reference on a green new keeper slip. Phone 0300 123 4321 if you would rather not use the website. Direct Debit is not available by phone. A participating Post Office can take a V5C, a new keeper slip, or a V62 from the current keeper, and it may ask for MOT evidence. Northern Ireland Post Office applications also need the published insurance and test evidence.
- Read the first registration date on the V5C. That date, not the fact it is electric, decides the rate.
- A new car pays £10 for the first licence, usually inside the dealer's on the road price.
- From the second licence, or for an older EV, tax it at £200 or at band B if it was registered between March 2001 and March 2017.
- Choose twelve months up front if you want the cheapest licence. Monthly or six monthly Direct Debit adds a 5 per cent surcharge.
- If the car will stay off a public road, make a SORN instead of taxing it.
- Twelve months up front: £200 for a post 2017 electric car.
- Calculated six month licence: £110.00.
- Calculated monthly Direct Debit: £17.50.
- Direct Debit annually: no surcharge.
Do I get a refund, and what if I do not tax it?
Refunds cover full months left on the licence. DVLA cancels the tax and cancels a Direct Debit if you had one. A cheque goes to the name and address on the V5C. You will not get back any card fee, the 5 per cent surcharge, or the extra built into a six month licence. Contact DVLA if the cheque has not arrived after 8 weeks. A SORN is free if the car stays off a public road. The only published journey for a SORN vehicle is to or from a pre booked test.
If there is no tax and no SORN, DVLA can issue a late licensing penalty of £80, reduced to £40 if paid within 33 days. Use or keeping on a public road can then lead to an out of court settlement of £30 plus 1.5 times the outstanding tax, or a court penalty of £1,000 or five times the tax, whichever is greater. A disabled tax class vehicle still has to complete the tax process even when the amount due is nil. Company cars still pay vehicle tax: benefit in kind does not replace it.
Common questions
- How much is road tax on an electric car?
- £200 a year, the same as a petrol or diesel car of the same age, for cars first registered from 1 April 2017. A newly registered electric car pays a £10 first year rate, then joins the standard rate from its second licence like everything else. Cars first registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 pay the band B rate instead, which is £20.
- Do older electric cars pay too?
- Yes. An electric car registered before 1 April 2025 was exempt until that date and now pays the rate for its own registration period. Cars registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 moved to the band B rate of £20 rather than the standard rate. Cars registered from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2025 pay the standard rate of £200 and no expensive car supplement, whatever the list price was.
- Does an electric car pay the expensive car supplement?
- Only above £50,000 of list price, and only for cars registered on or after 1 April 2025, on licences taking effect from 1 April 2026. Cars registered 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2025 pay the standard rate and no supplement. A 2018 electric car listed at £48,000 is under that newer threshold anyway, and is also in the no supplement window because of its registration date.
- Is an electric car still cheaper to run overall?
- On tax the gap has closed to nothing for cars registered from April 2017. On fuel it has not: charging at a home rate costs a fraction of a petrol equivalent, and a company car driver still pays a fraction of the benefit in kind. Vehicle excise duty and benefit in kind are separate bills. The keeper still pays the licence. The employee still faces the company car tax calculation if the car is a perk.
- Do electric vans, motorcycles and HGVs pay as well?
- Electric cars, vans, motorcycles and tricycles pay vehicle tax from 1 April 2025. Heavy goods vehicles over 3,500kg that are electric remain exempt, according to the GOV.UK vehicles exempt from vehicle tax page. That exemption is about the vehicle type and weight, not about a car that happens to be large. A disabled tax class vehicle still has to complete the tax process even when the amount due is nil.
- How do I tax an electric car?
- Use the GOV.UK vehicle tax service with a V11 reminder, the 11 digit reference on a V5C in your name, or the 12 digit reference on a green new keeper slip. You can also tax by phone on 0300 123 4321, though Direct Debit is not available on that line, or at a participating Post Office. Northern Ireland Post Office applications also need the published insurance and test evidence. Monthly or six monthly Direct Debit adds a 5 per cent surcharge. A single annual Direct Debit payment carries no surcharge.
- Do I get a refund if I sell the car or make a SORN?
- Yes, for any full months left on the current licence. DVLA cancels the tax, cancels a Direct Debit if you had one, and sends a refund cheque to the name and address on the V5C. You do not get the 5 per cent Direct Debit surcharge back, or the extra you paid for a six month licence, or any card fee. Contact DVLA if the cheque has not arrived after 8 weeks. Tax does not transfer with the car. A SORN is free if the car will stay off the public road.
- Does a company electric car still pay vehicle tax?
- Yes. Vehicle excise duty is charged on the vehicle. A company electric car first registered from 1 April 2017 pays £200 from its second licence, and a new one pays the first year rate first. Benefit in kind is a separate income tax charge on the employee and does not replace the licence. The electric advantage that remains is mostly in that benefit in kind calculation, not in vehicle tax.
Sources
- DVLA, V149: rates of vehicle tax from 1 April 2026 (as of 1 April 2026)
- GOV.UK, Budget 2025 overview of tax legislation and rates, Annex A: rates and allowances (as of 1 April 2026)
- GOV.UK, Vehicle tax rate tables (as of 1 April 2026)
- GOV.UK, Increase in the Vehicle Excise Duty Expensive Car Supplement threshold for zero emission cars (as of 1 April 2026)
- GOV.UK, Vehicle tax for electric, zero and low emission vehicles (as of 1 April 2026)
- GOV.UK, Pay your vehicle tax by Direct Debit (as of 1 April 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk, Finance Act 2025 section 66: rates of vehicle excise duty, omitting the reduced rate for alternative fuel vehicles (as of 1 April 2025)
- GOV.UK, Tax your vehicle (as of 10 September 2026)
- GOV.UK, Cancel your vehicle tax and get a refund (as of 10 September 2026)
- GOV.UK, Register your vehicle as off the road (SORN) (as of 10 September 2026)
- GOV.UK, Vehicles exempt from vehicle tax (as of 10 September 2026)
- GOV.UK, Vehicle tax for electric and low emissions vehicles (as of 1 April 2026)
- DVLA, DVLA enforcement of vehicle tax, registration and insurance offences (as of 15 July 2026)