Road Tax for Electric Cars - The IMI responds

Steve Nash, CEO of the Institute of the Motor Industry responds to reports that the Chancellor will announce a road tax for electric cars in the Autumn statement

“The news reported at the end of last week that the Treasury plans to add vehicle excise duty to electric cars is not surprising to most in the industry – albeit it seems slightly counter-intuitive to the government’s goal of reducing particulates.

“Clearly the reduction in revenues from road tax on Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles is a concern for government. But we really hope that Jeremy Hunt doesn’t just see the addition of duty on electric vehicles as a means to generate income for government coffers generally.

“The skills gap for those qualified to service and repair electric vehicles is still considerable; indeed it could actually widen rather than reduce in the next few years as a direct consequence of current financial pressures impacting businesses’ training budgets. While the availability of qualified technicians remains a bit of a postcode lottery, consumer confidence in making the switch to electric will be limited. And that, of course, could have a knock-on impact on the 2030 target.

“An injection of investment in training – especially for the independent sector which often feels the pinch first from an economic downturn – would certainly help tackle this issue.”