New UK driving laws you need to know for 2025
From fuel duty to electric car road tax – here's what you need to know about new UK driving laws in 2025
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Driving laws are constantly changing to keep up with government legislation and new regulations, and 2025 is no different.
This year we expect to see a wide range of new changes introduced.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2025 UK driving laws:
Driving laws coming in 2025
Electric cars to pay road tax from April 2025
Drivers of electric vehicles (EVs) will have to pay road tax (also known as Vehicle Excise Duty) from 1 April 2025 for the first time.
Here’s how it’ll work:
EVs registered from 1 April 2025 onwards – £10 for the first year, £195 each year after that (standard rate)
EVs registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025 – £195 each year (standard rate)
EVs registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 – £20 each year
EVs registered on or after 1 April 2025 will also now be subject to the Expensive Car Supplement (also called the luxury car tax), which applies to new cars with a list price exceeding £40,000.
The current charge for this is £410 for the year and lasts for the first five years after a car is registered.
Petrol and diesel cars that produce more than 76g/km of CO2 are also being charged more road tax. From 1 April 2025, these cars will pay double the road tax they do now.
The £10 road tax discount for hybrid cars is also being scrapped, so they'll now pay the £195 standard rate (if registered after 1 April 2017) or based on emissions (if registered before 1 April 2017).
Fuel duty freeze continues
As set out in the Autumn Budget by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, the fuel duty freeze will continue, with the existing 5p discount staying in place for 2025 and 2026.
This keeps fuel duty at 52.95p per litre for at least another two years.
Benefit in kind (BiK) is increasing for all vehicles
The benefit-in-kind (BiK) tax applies to everyone who pays for a car through a company salary sacrifice scheme.
From April 2025 onwards, BiK will increase by 1% in each tax bracket, and this includes electric cars.
From 6 April 2025, electric cars will pay 3% BiK (an increase of 1% over last year).
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Electric and hydrogen cars to pay full Congestion Charge from 25 December 2025
It may seem a while off yet, but it’ll soon come around – from 25 December 2025, electric and hydrogen cars will need to pay the full £15 Congestion Charge in London.
Previously, electric car owners could pay £10 to receive an exemption to the Congestion Charge.
However, it’s worth noting that there’s no Congestion Charge from 25 December to 1 January, so this charge properly comes into effect from 2 January 2026.
Car insurance groups replaced with Vehicle Risk Ratings system
The cost of insurance for new vehicles registered from 1 August 2024 is now based on the new Vehicle Risk Ratings system.
It replaces the insurance group system previously used, but insurance groups will stay in place for cars registered before 1 August 2024. This new ratings system will be based on a few different categories:
Performance
Damageability
Repairability
Safety
Security
Then, the car will be given a score from one to 99. One is the lowest risk, and 99 is the highest risk, so the higher the number, the more it'll cost to insure (in most cases).
This will not change anything about your actual insurance process. It all happens in the background to give you your final price, and your personal circumstances will still affect how much your insurance costs.
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Zero emission vehicle mandate
According to the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate set out by the UK government, car makers need 28% of their car sales to be fully electric in 2025 (up from 22% in 2024).
However, many manufacturers are struggling to reach that target (the current market share of EVs is around 18%), and there have been rumours that the mandate could be changed.
For now, the strong push towards an electrified future will continue into 2025 to try and reach that magic number (which grows incrementally to 80% in 2030 and 100% in 2035).
New ‘25’ and ‘75’ number plates are coming
Every year, we get two new number plates. From 1 March 2025, all newly registered cars will come with a ‘25’ plate.
Then, on 1 September 2025, this changes to the ‘75’ plate for the second half of the year.