Autumn Budget 2026: what EV drivers want from John Healey on 28 October

John Healey delivers his first Budget as Chancellor on Wednesday 28 October 2026, and for electric car drivers there is a clear list of asks. The loudest is a cut in VAT on public charging from 20% to the 5% paid at home. Others include clarity on the 3p-a-mile pay-per-mile tax due in 2028, an extended fuel duty freeze and a rethink on any tariffs on Chinese EVs, according to industry voices gathered by Motor Trade News.

The Budget comes at an awkward time. Pump prices are high, inflation has risen to 3.1% on fuel and energy costs, borrowing costs have climbed, and the government is reviewing its ZEV mandate. Here is what is being asked for, what is already fixed, and what each outcome would mean for your running costs.

When is the Budget and what do we already know?

The Budget is on Wednesday 28 October, about a month earlier than last year’s. It usually starts shortly after 12:30pm, once Prime Minister’s Questions is over, and lasts about an hour, according to Small Business. It is Healey’s first since Prime Minister Andy Burnham appointed him.

A few things are already known or strongly signalled:

• No rise in the main rates of income tax, VAT or National Insurance, according to JOE.
• No rise in capital gains tax, the Guardian reported; banks are expected to be the main source of extra revenue.
• VAT on household electricity has already been scrapped, which benefits anyone who charges an EV at home. Our report on the electricity VAT cut explains the saving.
• The pay-per-mile tax for EVs, eVED, is already legislated for April 2028 at 3p a mile, or 1.5p for plug-in hybrids.

Will VAT on public charging be cut?

This is the single biggest EV ask, and the outcome is genuinely uncertain. People who charge at home pay no VAT on their electricity for now, while public chargers carry the standard 20% rate. Critics call the gap a “pavement tax”, because it hits people without a driveway hardest.

“Right now, it costs more to plug in on the street than it does at home, and that’s exactly backwards,” said Tom Preston, chief executive of Hippo Leasing. “The people paying more are usually the ones who can least afford it, such as renters and flat-dwellers.” He estimates that cutting public charging VAT to 5% could save high-mileage EV drivers about £389 a year.

There are good reasons to think change could come, and good reasons to doubt it:

For a cut:

• A tax tribunal ruled in March 2026 that public charging should have been taxed at 5% all along, because of a misapplication of the law. Charge My Street brought the case. Several experts doubt HMRC’s appeal will succeed, according to the Guardian.
• Department for Transport ministers are understood to support a cut.
• EVA England says 75% of drivers now see public charging costs as the biggest hurdle to going electric.

Against a cut:

• The Treasury rejected a 5% cut at the last Budget, worried about the growing cost of lost VAT as EV numbers rise and fuel duty falls.
• The government’s review of public charging costs, due in the autumn, explicitly excludes VAT from its terms of reference, as edie reported.
• Zapmap calculated the extra 15 percentage points bring the Treasury about £85m a year, projected to rise to £315m by 2030.

Our explainer on the public charging VAT gap shows what the difference costs on a typical charge.

What is happening with pay-per-mile road tax?

The Electric Vehicle Excise Duty is due from April 2028, charging 3p a mile for electric cars and 1.5p a mile for plug-in hybrids. It was announced in the November 2025 Budget to replace some of the fuel duty lost as drivers switch to EVs.

The industry is not asking for it to be scrapped in this Budget so much as explained. “For anyone leasing an EV, it’s worth getting familiar with the pay-per-mile charge coming in 2028 now, not in three years, so it doesn’t catch you out,” said Preston. He wants the Budget to give clarity on how it will actually work.

There are open questions about how mileage will be recorded and checked, which we cover in our report on eVED enforcement and police inspection powers. The trade body BEAMA has warned eVED could cost the economy between £890m and £4.8bn by putting buyers off EVs.

At 3p a mile, a driver covering 10,000 miles a year would pay about £300. That is still far less than fuel duty on a typical petrol car over the same distance, but it narrows the running cost gap.

Will fuel duty rise?

Under current plans, yes. The temporary cut in fuel duty is due to unwind in two steps, 3p a litre in January and 2p in March, according to JOE. Hippo Leasing says the planned increases would add almost £3 to every fill-up on a standard family car, and that extending the freeze into 2027 is “an absolute priority”. Fleets and FairFuel UK are making the same case, and the Road Haulage Association wants a 15p-per-litre rebate for essential users such as lorry, coach and van drivers.

For EV drivers, a fuel duty rise is indirectly good news: it widens the running cost gap in your favour. Our analysis of the fuel duty rise and EV running costs puts numbers on that.

Will there be tariffs on Chinese EVs?

Not in the Budget itself, but the debate is live. The UK is weighing whether to align with EU tariffs on Chinese-built EVs as the price of joining the EU’s Made in Europe scheme, as we cover in our Made in Europe report. China has warned it will retaliate.

Car retailers are worried. “Adding tariffs has the potential to inflate list prices or worsen finance rates,” said John Veichmanis, chief executive of Carwow Group. He said 49% of Carwow users would now consider a Chinese brand for their next car, up from 35% in January, mainly for value for money and discounts. “The UK’s shift to electric will still depend on affordable choice,” he said.

What about the Electric Car Grant?

The grant offers up to £3,750 off eligible new EVs, and the government said in May 2026 that more than 95,000 people had already benefited. There has been no announcement that it will end, but the Budget will show whether its funding is topped up or trimmed. Our report on how long the grant’s funding will last explains the pot.

There are hints that green subsidies are under pressure: the Guardian reports ministers are preparing to cut heat pump subsidies to help fund defence spending.

What could change for company car drivers?

Company car tax for EVs is already set at low rates until the end of the decade, and the leasing industry body BVRLA wants a 9% electric rate guaranteed beyond 2030. There are also reports that HMRC is considering cutting company car tax on used EVs. We cover both in our BVRLA report and our report on used EV company car tax.

What each outcome would mean for you

If the Budget…	What it means for EV drivers
Cuts public charging VAT to 5%	Cheaper public charging, worth hundreds of pounds a year to high-mileage drivers without a driveway
Keeps public charging VAT at 20%	No change; the home and public cost gap stays wide
Explains eVED in detail	Better planning for leases and PCPs ending after April 2028
Extends the fuel duty freeze	Petrol and diesel stay cheaper than planned; the EV saving narrows slightly
Tops up the Electric Car Grant	Up to £3,750 off eligible new EVs continues
Trims EV support	Expect smaller discounts and higher monthly payments in 2027

How to follow the Budget

The Chancellor’s statement is broadcast live on the BBC and Parliament TV, usually from about 12:30pm. The detailed documents, including any changes to vehicle taxes, are published on GOV.UK straight afterwards, and the Office for Budget Responsibility publishes its forecasts at the same time.

Any changes affecting EV drivers usually take effect from a later date, often the following April, so there is time to plan once the details are known.

Our view

The fairest single change for EV drivers would be equal VAT on public and home charging. It would help the drivers who most need it, renters and people without driveways, and a tribunal has already said 5% is the correct rate. Whether a Treasury looking for money agrees is another matter.

We will cover what the Budget means for EV drivers on 28 October. If you are thinking of ordering a car now, nothing that might change in the Budget is a reason to rush or to wait: today’s prices and grant are known, and anything new would apply from a later date.