Last chance for electric car drivers to save £195
Electric vehicle (EV) drivers should do this to secure another year of free road tax while they still can
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Drivers of electric cars should act swiftly before the new Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) changes take effect on 1 April 2025, or risk missing their final opportunity to secure another year of free road tax.
With the clock ticking, savvy EV motorists can save themselves £195 by renewing their road tax before 31 March. With an estimated 1.4 million electric cars currently on UK roads, this adds up to a huge potential saving of £273 million collectively.
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As it stands, drivers of fully electric vehicles that were registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025 have enjoyed free road tax as part of an incentive to help drive the transition to zero-emission cars.
However, from 1 April 2025, this exemption comes to an end, and that means all EVs already on the road will be subject to the standard annual VED rate of £195 – in line with petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles.
Sam Sheehan, motoring editor at cinch, the UK’s biggest seller of used electric cars, adds: "By simply renewing your road tax before the deadline, you can secure another 12 months of road tax for nothing. For EV drivers that act quickly, this is a big cost saving that will help keep their annual motoring costs down for another year.
“For EV drivers, the road tax renewal process is very straightforward. All they need to do is visit the government website and enter the 11-digit reference from their car’s log book (V5C) by 31 March 2025.”
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Offering a word of caution, Sheehan adds: “Don’t get caught out. The system will warn drivers about renewing early. That’s because you’d usually have to pay twice until your original renewal date. However, this doesn't apply to EVs because currently road tax is free.”
“Renewing your road tax will take you less than five minutes online,” says Sam Sheehan, encouraging EV owners to take action today. “You can even do it on your phone, so there’s no reason to put it off.”
After 1 April 2025, those purchasing new electric cars won’t be able to escape paying their road tax. It’ll be £10 for the first year and £195 from year two onwards.
For electric cars priced over £40,000 new, electric car drivers will also have to pay the £425 'expensive car supplement' (aka ‘luxury car tax’) from the second to the sixth years the car’s on the road.
Drivers are being warned of the potential consequences of failing to pay their road tax.
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Sheehan comments: “From 1 April, EV drivers who don't tax their car may receive an Out of Court Settlement letter demanding £30 plus 1.5 times the outstanding amount of tax. Ignore that letter, and you could be taken to the Magistrates Court, where fines can hit £1,000 or five times the tax owed, whichever is higher.
“Authorities can also clamp or impound untaxed vehicles spotted on the road, leaving you facing hefty release fees, or worse, your car being auctioned or crushed."