Paul F Faupel and Venetia Caine make suggestions about the chancellor’s idea of a pay-per-mile charge on electric cars
Rachel Reeves’s proposal to introduce a pay-per-mile tax levy on electric vehicles is idiotic, especially suggesting that hybrid vehicles will have a reduced rate and still pay the usual road tax (Rachel Reeves considering pay-per-mile tax for electric vehicles in budget, 6 November). Furthermore, requiring drivers to predict their yearly mileage in advance and then pay or reclaim the difference for actual mileage depending on whether they have underestimated or overestimated it is too cumbersome. If the DVLA is to oversee the collection/repayment system, it will undoubtedly need to recruit more staff or outsource the arrangement, with all the attendant pitfalls that would entail.
The fairest way for the taxation of all motorists is to abolish the road tax and introduce a road toll system, as used on the Dartford crossing and the M6 toll road. Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) would need to be an essential feature. However, the use of an in-car dongle that is linked to either a credit card account or a dedicated debit account (which can be topped up when it reaches a critically low threshold level) would be the pay-as-you-drive element. Dongles could be renewed like the current road tax and preloaded. As vehicles become increasingly IT-sophisticated, the dongle function could be built into their “brains” but only be accessible to the authorised user via a secure password. In hire vehicles this could be governed by the hire period being programmed into the vehicle and automatically wiped on expiry.
Paul F Faupel
Somersham, Cambridgeshire
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