London Mayor's plans for pay per mile charging for polluting cars

The Times reports on the London Mayor's plans for pay per mile charging for polluting cars. In this context,  this effectively means all cars which aren’t zero emission. In other words, electric cars. EVs are already exempt from the Congestion Charge and once this new scheme is in place, the only way to drive in the capital without being charged will be in an electric car.

We think this ‘pay as you go’ model will be how governments replace revenue lost from declining fuel duty as volumes of petrol and diesel sales fall. If an EV is charged at home or at work, there is no separate transaction for the government to tax. If the electricity used to charge the car is generated on a factory or warehouse roof,  there is no transaction at all; this represents a huge problem for The Treasury who currently receive around £30bns a year in duty and then there is the VAT on top.  

Charging per mile will be easy peasy given that all cars are now connected and our every move is monitored by cameras and ANPR on all main roads. Collection will be by DD and we would expect the government to have the ability to immobilise or impound cars which are either not registered or when a payment bounces.

You can read the article here.