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The £0.03 Question: Britain’s Pay-Per-Mile EV Tax Is Coming—and It Changes the Math

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For years, electric cars have enjoyed a near-mythical status in the cost-of-ownership conversation. Cheap to run, cheap to tax, and—if you played the charging game right—almost smugly inexpensive per mile. That advantage is about to shrink.

From April 2028, the UK government plans to introduce a pay-per-mile road tax for electrified vehicles, officially known as eVED (Electric Vehicle Excise Duty). In simple terms, it means EV and plug-in hybrid drivers will start paying for how far they drive, not just what they drive. In practice, it could add £200–£300 a year to the cost of running an electric car—and that’s before standard road tax is factored in.

This isn’t just a new line item on a spreadsheet. It’s a philosophical shift in how EVs are taxed, and one that arrives at a delicate moment in Britain’s electric transition.

How It Works (At Least on Paper)

Under current proposals, fully electric cars will be charged three pence per mile, while plug-in hybrids will pay one and a half pence per mile. Both rates will rise annually in line with inflation. The charge sits on top of regular Vehicle Excise Duty, which currently stands at £195 per year and is unlikely to be frozen until 2028.

Mileage won’t be tracked digitally. Instead, odometer readings will be logged annually—via the MoT for cars over three years old, or through accredited mileage checks for newer vehicles. Once a year, drivers will log into the DVLA system, estimate their annual mileage (much like an insurance declaration), and choose whether to pay in one go or spread the cost over 12 months. Drive more than expected? You’ll get a bill. Drive less? A rebate lands back in your account.

Simple, relatively low-tech, and deliberately light on surveillance. The downside is equally simple: you pay for every mile, including those driven outside the UK.

EVs vs ICE: The Numbers Still Favour Electric—For Now

One of the strongest arguments for EVs has always been running costs, and eVED doesn’t completely undo that. But it does blur the lines.

Take a Volkswagen Golf and its electric cousin, the ID.3. Charged at home on an off-peak tariff—around eight pence per kWh—the ID.3 works out at roughly two pence per mile for electricity, plus three pence per mile in tax. That’s still comfortably cheaper than a petrol Golf at roughly 12 pence per mile, or a diesel at around 10 pence.

The picture changes quickly, though. Charge at the energy price cap of 26p per kWh, and the ID.3 climbs to around nine pence per mile all-in, effectively matching the cost of running an ICE Golf. Rely on public rapid charging at up to 90p per kWh, and the electric option becomes decisively more expensive per mile than petrol.

The conclusion is unavoidable: where and how you charge now matters more than ever. The mileage tax doesn’t kill the EV cost advantage, but it makes it fragile.

Why the Government Is Doing This

The motivation isn’t subtle. As fuel duty revenue collapses with the rise of EVs, the Treasury is staring at a growing hole in the public finances. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, eVED could raise up to £1.4 billion per year by 2029–30.

But there’s a catch. The same OBR estimates that by 2031, around 440,000 fewer EVs will be sold than would otherwise have been the case, as buyers react to higher ownership costs. That’s a remarkable admission: the tax raises money, but actively slows adoption.

Which leads to the central question—is this the right tax at the wrong time?

Industry Pushback—and Consumer Doubt

Reaction has been predictably mixed. A survey of readers found 37 percent consider the charge fair, while 23 percent see it as an unjust penalty on EV drivers. Another 32 percent believe it’s poorly timed and risks stalling momentum just as EVs approach the mainstream.

Industry voices have been sharper. Ford UK described the policy as “a confusing message at a critical moment,” warning that investment in charging and purchase incentives can’t offset the damage of a new usage tax. Charging providers echo that concern, arguing that reduced EV uptake weakens the business case for expanding rapid-charging networks—exactly the infrastructure the transition depends on.

Even organisations broadly supportive of fair road pricing, like the AA, stress the need for safeguards. Rural drivers, carers, and others who depend heavily on their cars could be disproportionately affected by a flat per-mile charge.

A Transition at a Crossroads

The government has attempted some damage control. From April 2026, the Expensive Vehicle Supplement threshold for EVs will rise to £50,000, easing the blow for higher-end electric cars. It helps—but it doesn’t change the broader message.

For the first time, EVs are being treated not as a special case, but as just another way of moving down the road. In one sense, that’s a sign of maturity. In another, it risks undermining the very incentives that helped electric cars gain traction in the first place.

Come 2028, the honeymoon is officially over. Electric cars will still make sense—often financial sense—but no longer by default. Every mile will count, literally. And for a government betting heavily on electrification targets, that may prove to be a risky recalculation.

Source: Auto Express

News

Why the EU’s Emissions U-Turn Could Reshape the Road to 2035

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For nearly a decade, Europe’s automotive future has seemed pre-written: the internal-combustion engine would be legislated into extinction, with 2035 marking the end of the road for new petrol and diesel cars. Now, that script may be getting a major rewrite—and the aftershocks would be felt from Stuttgart to Turin.

According to Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party—the largest bloc in the European Parliament—the EU is considering dropping the outright ban on combustion engines in favor of a less absolutist, emissions-based approach. Speaking to German newspaper Bild, Weber said that from 2035 onward, manufacturers would be required to cut fleet CO₂ emissions by 90 percent, not 100 percent.

In regulatory terms, that 10 percent gap is enormous.

“We will not have a 100 percent target from 2040 either,” Weber added, making it clear that a blanket ban on combustion engines would be taken “off the table.” If adopted, this shift would allow existing engine technologies—at least in highly optimized or electrified forms—to survive well into the next decade.

A Direct Contradiction—or Political Course Correction?

The comments clash with recent claims from Tim Tozer, former UK head of Vauxhall, who suggested the EU was instead planning to delay the ban by five years, pushing the zero-emissions deadline to 2040. Under that scenario, all new vehicles sold from January 1, 2040, would need to be fully electric.

Weber’s statement suggests something far less binary: no fixed end date for combustion engines, but emissions targets strict enough to dramatically limit what survives.

In practice, a 90 percent CO₂ reduction opens the door to advanced plug-in hybrids, ultra-efficient combustion engines, and synthetic-fuel-compatible powertrains—alongside full battery-electric vehicles. It’s not a rollback of climate ambition so much as a recognition that the market hasn’t moved at the speed policymakers once expected.

The Market Reality Check

Several automakers have quietly welcomed the idea of a more flexible framework. While electrification remains the industry’s long-term direction, the transition has proven uneven across Europe.

Citroën CEO Xavier Chardon recently summed up the issue bluntly: electrification isn’t failing, but expectations were set on outdated assumptions. Markets like Norway are nearly fully electric, but others—Croatia, Italy, Spain, Poland—are still seeing single-digit EV penetration.

That disparity makes a one-size-fits-all mandate politically and economically fraught. Manufacturers are being asked to hit aggressive electric sales targets in regions where charging infrastructure, incentives, and consumer confidence remain underdeveloped.

Not everyone is convinced. Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson has criticized the idea of slowing regulatory pressure, arguing that it undermines momentum and long-term investment certainty. For brands that have already bet heavily on full electrification, regulatory hesitation risks rewarding slower adopters.

The UK: Out of Step or Holding Firm?

The biggest question mark now hangs over the UK. The current Labour government has reinstated a 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars, with a requirement that all new vehicles sold from 2035 onward be fully zero-emission. If Brussels softens its stance, London may find itself enforcing one of the toughest automotive timelines in the developed world—alone.

That’s a risky position, especially as electric vehicle sales growth begins to cool. While EV registrations are still up 26 percent year-to-date in 2025, momentum has slowed sharply, with November sales rising just 3.6 percent over last year.

Meanwhile, manufacturers are struggling to meet ZEV mandate targets: 28 percent zero-emission sales in 2025, rising to 33 percent in 2026. Miss those targets, and the fines are severe.

Incentives In, Costs Coming

Part of the slowdown may be traced to mixed policy signals. The UK’s £3,750 Electric Car Grant—now extended to March 2030—offers a clear incentive. But looming over it is the proposed eVED pay-per-mile tax, which would see EV and plug-in hybrid drivers paying more than ICE owners on top of standard road tax.

For consumers already wary of charging access, resale values, and upfront costs, the message is anything but clear.

The Bigger Picture

If the EU does formally abandon a total combustion-engine ban, it won’t mark a retreat from electrification—but it will signal a pivot toward pragmatism. The industry’s transformation is still underway, just not at the uniform pace regulators once envisioned.

Whether this flexibility accelerates innovation or simply delays the inevitable remains to be seen. What’s clear is that Europe’s road to zero emissions is no longer a straight line—and the internal-combustion engine may yet have a few more chapters left to write.

Source: Auto Express

NEW CARS

2026 Honda Pilot Refresh: Bigger Screens, Quieter Cabin, and Sharper Road Manners Keep Honda’s Three-Row SUV on Top

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Honda didn’t reinvent the Pilot for 2026—but it didn’t need to. Instead, the brand focused on the stuff that actually matters to families who live with a three-row SUV every day: better tech, a calmer cabin, sharper steering, and styling tweaks that give the Pilot a bit more attitude. The result is a meaningful refresh that keeps the Pilot firmly in the conversation as one of the benchmarks in the midsize SUV class.

The updated 2026 Pilot is arriving at dealerships now, with pricing starting at $42,195 for the Sport model (before the $1,495 destination charge). As before, the lineup spans six trims—Sport, EX-L, Touring, TrailSport, Elite, and Black Edition—each clearly differentiated by equipment and personality.

Screens Finally Catch Up to the Competition

The most obvious upgrade greets you the moment you climb inside. Every 2026 Pilot now comes standard with a 12.3-inch touchscreen, a massive step up from the outgoing system and one that finally looks at home next to rivals from Hyundai and Kia. It’s paired with a new 10.2-inch digital gauge cluster, and both displays run Honda’s latest software for quicker responses and cleaner graphics.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now standard across the board, along with Google built-in and available 5G Wi-Fi. Translation: fewer cables, faster connections, and less frustration on school runs and road trips alike. Honda also made a power tailgate standard on all trims—one of those “why wasn’t it already?” features that families will appreciate immediately.

Quieter, Calmer, More Premium Inside

Honda didn’t stop at screens. Engineers went after noise, vibration, and harshness with surprising enthusiasm, adding thicker glass, better insulation, and revised door materials. Honda claims a 2–3 dB reduction in key frequencies, which might sound minor on paper but pays dividends on the highway. Touring and Elite models go a step further with enclosed fender liners to further hush road noise.

Material quality also takes a step up. Touring models now get more upscale upholstery and stitching, while Elite and Black Edition trims introduce diamond-quilted Ultra Suede seat accents that push the Pilot closer to entry-luxury territory. TrailSport buyers aren’t left out either, with an available brown leather interior accented by bold orange stitching and newly standard heated second-row outboard seats.

Subtle Styling Tweaks, Stronger Presence

Outside, the changes are evolutionary but effective. A redesigned front fascia with a larger grille gives the Pilot a more assertive face, while new scuff plates emphasize its rugged intent. Wheel designs are freshened across higher trims, including new Shark Gray 20-inch alloys on Touring and Elite models and Berlina Black wheels for the Black Edition.

Honda also adds a trio of new colors—Solar Silver Metallic, Smoke Blue Pearl, and TrailSport-exclusive Ash Green Metallic—that bring some welcome variety to the Pilot palette. Roof rails are now standard on every trim, further reinforcing the SUV’s adventure-ready image.

Better Steering, Same Strong V-6

Under the skin, Honda focused on refinement rather than reinvention. A retuned electric power steering system delivers more on-center weight and improved feedback, especially noticeable during highway cruising and on winding roads. It’s a subtle upgrade, but one that helps the Pilot feel more composed and confident behind the wheel.

Power still comes from Honda’s naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V-6, producing 285 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque, paired with a smooth-shifting 10-speed automatic. All-wheel drive remains optional across most trims and standard on TrailSport, Elite, and Black Edition models. Honda’s torque-vectoring i-VTM4 system continues to be a standout, sending power not just front-to-rear but side-to-side at the rear axle for improved traction and cornering stability.

TrailSport Still Means Business

For buyers who actually plan to leave the pavement, the TrailSport remains one of the more convincing off-road-oriented trims in the segment. It features a raised suspension, steel skid plates, all-terrain tires, and exclusive drive modes that genuinely improve performance in sand and on trails—all without turning the Pilot into a penalty box on the highway.

Safety and American Roots

Every 2026 Pilot comes standard with the Honda Sensing suite of driver-assistance tech, including adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, collision mitigation braking, and road departure mitigation. New for 2026 is a Post-Collision Braking system designed to reduce secondary impacts, while the Touring trim gains a 360-degree camera system previously reserved for the top models.

The Pilot continues to be built in Lincoln, Alabama, reinforcing Honda’s long-standing commitment to U.S. manufacturing. More than 2.5 million Pilots have rolled out of the Alabama plant since 2006, and the model consistently ranks near the top of Cars.com’s American-Made Index.

The 2026 Honda Pilot refresh doesn’t chase trends—it refines strengths. Bigger, better screens, a noticeably quieter cabin, improved steering feel, and thoughtful feature upgrades make an already solid three-row SUV even easier to recommend. In a segment packed with flashy newcomers, Honda’s steady, well-executed evolution might just be the Pilot’s biggest advantage.

Source: Honda

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