For years, zero road tax was one of the clearest financial perks of going electric. That changed on 1 April 2025, when electric vehicles started paying VED for the first time. With another round of rate changes coming in April 2026, here's exactly what EV owners and prospective buyers need to know.
What electric cars pay now (2025/26)
Since April 2025, electric vehicle VED works like this:
- New EV (first registered from April 2025): £10 first-year rate, then £195/year standard rate
- Existing EV (registered April 2017 – March 2025): £195/year standard rate — jumped straight from £0 to the full rate
- Pre-April 2017 EV: £20/year (Band A equivalent)
The first-year rate of £10 is the lowest available — lower even than the cheapest petrol hybrids. But the standard rate is the same flat amount that every post-2017 car pays, regardless of fuel type. For the full rate tables across all vehicle types, see our complete car tax rates guide for 2026.
You can check what any vehicle currently pays using our free tax check.
What changes in April 2026
Standard rate: £195 to £200
The annual standard rate increases by £5 to £200. This applies to all EVs registered after April 2017 that are past their first year. It's a small rise, but it confirms the direction of travel — EV tax exemptions are gone, and rates will continue rising with inflation.
The big one: expensive car supplement threshold rises to £50,000
This is the change that matters most for EV buyers. Currently, any vehicle with a list price over £40,000 pays an additional expensive car supplement — around £425 per year for five years (years 2 through 6 of registration). This hit a lot of electric cars hard, because many mainstream EVs land above £40,000.
From 1 April 2026, the supplement threshold for zero-emission vehicles only increases to £50,000. The threshold for petrol, diesel, and hybrid vehicles stays at £40,000.
This means:
| EV list price | Supplement from April 2025 | Supplement from April 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Under £40,000 | None | None |
| £40,001 – £50,000 | ~£425/year for 5 years | None |
| Over £50,000 | ~£425/year for 5 years | ~£440/year for 5 years |
Which cars benefit?
Plenty of popular EVs fall in the £40,000–£50,000 bracket:
- Tesla Model 3 Long Range — list price around £43,000–£47,000
- Volkswagen ID.4 — from around £41,000
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 — from around £42,000
- Kia EV6 — from around £42,000
- BMW iX1 — from around £43,000
- Peugeot e-3008 — from around £44,000
For these vehicles, the threshold change saves owners approximately £2,200 over the five-year supplement period. That's a meaningful saving — equivalent to roughly two years of the standard rate.
Backdated relief
The £50,000 threshold is backdated to 1 April 2025. If you bought an EV with a list price between £40,001 and £50,000 after April 2025 and have been paying the supplement, you'll stop paying it from April 2026. Any supplement already paid won't be refunded, but you won't owe it going forward.
How EV tax compares to petrol and diesel
From April 2026, here's how the annual running cost of VED compares:
Year one (new car)
| Vehicle type | First-year VED |
|---|---|
| Electric (0 g/km) | £10 |
| Plug-in hybrid (1–50 g/km) | £115 |
| Mild hybrid / efficient petrol (51–75 g/km) | £135 |
| Average petrol (101–130 g/km) | £405–£455 |
| Performance petrol/diesel (171–225 g/km) | £2,270–£3,420 |
| High-performance (over 255 g/km) | £5,690 |
Electric vehicles have by far the lowest first-year rate. A buyer choosing between a Tesla Model 3 (£10 first year) and a BMW 3 Series petrol (around £455) saves £445 on day one.
Year two onwards
All vehicles pay the same £200/year standard rate. The only difference is the expensive car supplement:
- EV under £50,000 list price: £200/year — no supplement
- EV over £50,000 list price: £200 + £440 = £640/year
- ICE/hybrid under £40,000 list price: £200/year — no supplement
- ICE/hybrid over £40,000 list price: £200 + £440 = £640/year
So for mid-range cars (£40k–£50k), EVs now have a genuine tax advantage over equivalent ICE models — saving £440/year for five years.
Pre-2017 electric cars
If you own an older EV registered before April 2017 — early Nissan Leafs, Renault Zoes, BMW i3s — the rate is just £20 per year under the Band A equivalent. This hasn't changed and remains one of the cheapest tax rates available.
What this means if you're considering an EV
The April 2025 changes removed the zero-tax advantage that made EVs uniquely cheap to run on paper. But the April 2026 supplement threshold change restores some of that advantage in the £40k–£50k price bracket where many buyers are shopping.
If you're weighing up fuel types more broadly, our guide to petrol vs diesel vs hybrid vs electric covers the full comparison. If you're comparing an EV against a similarly priced petrol or diesel alternative:
- First year: The EV costs £10 to tax versus potentially hundreds or thousands for the ICE equivalent
- Years 2–6 (under £50k EV / over £40k ICE): The EV saves £440/year in supplement costs
- Years 2–6 (both under £40k): Identical tax costs — the decision comes down to fuel, insurance, and depreciation
Use our car check tool to look up any vehicle's fuel type, emissions, and registration date — the key details that determine VED rates.
The bottom line
Electric cars are no longer tax-free, but the April 2026 changes make EVs in the £40k–£50k range significantly cheaper to tax than equivalent petrol or diesel cars. The £10 first-year rate, combined with no expensive car supplement below £50,000, gives mid-range EVs a genuine annual cost advantage.
For existing EV owners, the standard rate rises by a modest £5 to £200. If your tax is due in late March, renewing before April locks in the current £195 rate for another year. Check your tax expiry date to see whether that's worth doing.