PRESS RELEASE

Pay as you drive the fairest way to go

Commenting on yesterday’s headlines about the possibility of The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, bringing in pay as you drive charges for drivers of electric vehicles¹, Chris Todd, Director of Transport Action Network said:

“With a gaping hole in the nation’s budgets and with fuel duty falling as the take up of electric vehicles rises, a review of motoring taxes is urgently needed². Moving towards a pay as you go tax would be the fairest way to proceed so people only pay for what they use. Unless that happens soon, much loved services such as the NHS or local buses will have to be cut as tax revenues fall.

“At present, millions of people pay fuel taxes on their petrol and diesel cars, while electric car drivers pay next to nothing and have vastly reduced running costs. In this transition period, it is only fair that those who can afford electric cars also pay towards the upkeep of our roads and the pollution they create, such as from the wear of tyres and brakes. Otherwise the profusion of potholes risks getting worse³ while toxic road runoff will remain unchecked⁴.”

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Notes for editors

1. Reeves poised to unveil Budget plan for EV drivers to pay per mile charges, Financial Times, 6 November, 2025 ↩︎
2. PwC estimates fuel duty revenue will decline by £9 billion by 2030 and £27 billion by 2040 as a result of the transition to EVs – see press release by Campaign for Better Transport ↩︎
3. The total backlog in local road and bridge maintenance is around £24bn. It was nearly £17bn in 2025 for the backlog of local roads maintenance and nearly £7bn for local bridge maintenance in 2024. ↩︎
4. Despite the outcry about sewage in our rivers and seas, much less is known about the toxic brew of chemicals washed off our roads and straight into our waterways without any treatment whatsoever. See TAN’s blog about runoff from the Strategic Road Network which highlights some of the issues and how little is being done to tackle this toxic legacy. Electric vehicles are not pollution free and will contribute to this through tyre and road wear and to a lesser extent particulates from braking. ↩︎