Pay-per-mile EV tax: draft law lets officials inspect cars over mileage fraud

Draft laws for the UK’s pay-per-mile tax on electric cars would give officials sweeping powers to check that drivers are not under-reporting their mileage. According to the Daily Mail, which reported the draft rules on 11 October 2026, officers and transport officials could “enter any premises” where a vehicle is registered, and “inspect”, “test” and “detain” the car “for such time as is required to inspect or test it”. A new criminal offence would be created for not complying.

The tax itself, the Electric Vehicle Excise Duty or eVED, starts in April 2028 at 3p a mile for electric cars and 1.5p for plug-in hybrids. MPs and civil liberties campaigners called the powers “another power grab by the state”. Here is what the draft rules say, how the tax will be worked out and what it means if you drive an EV.

What do the draft powers say?

The draft rules set out, for the first time, how the government plans to enforce eVED. According to the Daily Mail, officers and transport officials would be able to:

• Enter any premises where a vehicle is registered.
• Inspect, test and detain the vehicle for as long as needed.
• Require the vehicle to be moved to a place where it can be inspected or tested.

Refusing to comply would become a new criminal offence. The powers are aimed at “odometer fraud”, where a car’s mileage reading is wound back or tampered with to reduce the tax bill.

The reaction was fierce. Critics said honest mistakes could lead to an officer knocking at the door, that the powers would waste police time, and that they were proof that “Labour’s war on drivers has gone into overdrive”, as some MPs put it to the paper.

It is important to be clear about what this is. These are draft rules for a tax that starts in 2028. They are not law yet, and the details, including what counts as “premises”, who can use the powers and what safeguards apply, could change before they are passed.

How will pay-per-mile road tax work?

eVED will be part of the existing Vehicle Excise Duty system, run by the DVLA. You will pay it alongside your normal road tax, not through a separate system.

eVED detail	What it means
Start date	April 2028
Battery electric cars	3p a mile
Plug-in hybrids	1.5p a mile, because they also pay fuel duty on petrol
Annual uprating	Rises each year with inflation
Trackers	None required
Who pays	The registered keeper
On top of	Normal Vehicle Excise Duty

According to Yahoo News, the process will work like this:

1. Estimate in advance. When you pay your road tax, you estimate how many miles you will drive in the next 12 months and pay for them.
2. Check against the odometer. Your mileage will be checked against odometer readings, which MOTs already record. New cars, which do not need an MOT until they are three years old, will have checks around their first and second registration anniversaries.
3. Settle the difference. If you paid too much, you get a refund. If you paid too little, the shortfall is added to your next road tax bill.

For new cars, dealers will be able to pre-pay and bundle eVED mileage into the on-the-road price. When you sell a car, any pre-paid miles or shortfall stays with the vehicle, and the government expects that to be reflected in the sale price.

Will the government track where I drive?

No. The government’s consultation documents state: “eVED will not require ‘trackers’ in cars, nor will the government ask people to interact with a whole new tax system.” They add that there will be “no requirement to report where and when miles are driven or install trackers in cars.”

That privacy-first design is exactly why enforcement matters. Without trackers, the system relies on odometer readings, and odometers can be tampered with. The government has acknowledged that eVED “may increase the likelihood of motorists choosing to clock their vehicles”, according to the BBC. Estimates suggest around 2.3% of UK vehicles may already show signs of clocking.

The draft inspection powers are the government’s answer to that risk. If your declared mileage and your MOT readings do not add up, officials would be able to examine the car.

How much will eVED cost me?

At 3p a mile, the cost depends on how far you drive:

Annual mileage	eVED at 3p a mile (electric)	eVED at 1.5p a mile (plug-in hybrid)
5,000 miles	£150	£75
8,500 miles	£255	£127.50
10,000 miles	£300	£150
15,000 miles	£450	£225

These are 2028 rates before inflation uprating. The BBC’s government example, 8,500 miles in 2028-29, comes to about £255. The Office for Budget Responsibility says the charge is about half the fuel duty rate paid by petrol drivers per mile. The government says the average petrol or diesel driver pays around 6p a mile, or about £480 a year, in fuel duty.

So even with eVED, an EV should still be cheaper to tax per mile than a petrol car. Add in the much lower cost of electricity than fuel, especially if you charge at home, and the running cost advantage stays large. Our EV cost per mile analysis shows the full picture.

Why is the government introducing eVED?

Because fuel duty is disappearing as drivers switch to EVs. Fuel duty raised £24.4bn in 2024-25, and the government expects it to fall to about £12bn a year as EVs take over. Without a replacement, “by 2030 around one in five car drivers are expected to pay no fuel duty at all”, said Treasury minister Dan Tomlinson when the consultation launched.

The OBR expects eVED to raise £1.1bn in 2028-29, rising to £1.9bn by 2030-31. But it also forecasts that the charge will cut electric car sales by about 440,000, partly offset by other policies worth around 320,000 sales. Industry groups including the SMMT and Ford called eVED “the wrong measure at the wrong time” when it was announced.

Is eVED going to change in the Budget?

There is no sign it will be scrapped, but the industry wants clarity. Leasing firms want the government to explain exactly how it will work so drivers can price it into leases and PCPs that end after April 2028. Our Autumn Budget 2026 preview covers what to watch on 28 October.

The trade body BEAMA has warned that eVED could cost the economy between £890m and £4.8bn by putting buyers off EVs, and that combining it with a weaker ZEV mandate sends mixed messages. We cover that in our report on the cost of weakening the ZEV mandate.

What should EV drivers do now?

Nothing urgent, but a few things are worth knowing:

• Keep records. Your MOT certificates already record mileage. Keeping them, and noting your odometer when you tax your car, will make it easy to show your figures are honest.
• Check used cars carefully. If you buy a used EV after April 2028, check its eVED status with the DVLA, because unpaid miles stay with the car. Our used EV buying checklist covers the other checks.
• Factor it into finance. If your lease or PCP runs past April 2028, budget for roughly £150 to £450 a year depending on your mileage.
• Do not tamper. Clocking is already illegal, and eVED will make it more closely policed.

Will eVED apply to EVs registered abroad?

No. The tax applies to UK-registered electric cars and plug-in hybrids, wherever in the world they are driven. EVs registered abroad but driven in the UK are exempt, according to the BBC. The rates are also set to rise each year with inflation, so the 3p and 1.5p figures are starting points.

Who is liable for the charge?

The registered keeper. If a parent lets a son or daughter drive their car, the parent is responsible for paying eVED, just as with road tax today. The DVLA is still working out how it will handle underpayments and overpayments, and the government has said more details will follow.

If you sell a car mid-year, the mileage already paid for, or any shortfall, stays with the vehicle, and the government expects that to be reflected in the sale price.

Our view

A pay-per-mile charge on EVs was always coming as fuel duty fades, and the no-trackers design is a sensible protection for privacy. But a system that relies on honest odometers needs enforcement, and powers to enter premises and detain cars are bound to alarm drivers. The government should publish clear safeguards: who can use the powers, what evidence is needed and how honest mistakes are treated. Until it does, expect this to stay a flashpoint between now and 2028.