EV Car tax question.

well this thread took a turn away from OT. anyway regarding the original post this morning i taxed my car despite it not being due till may. it all seemed to go through ok.
it isn't showing on the car tax website yet but hopefully that is just lag and my tax should now be due 28 Feb next year. I will post back to confirm once the tax checker updates then imo every EV owner should do it this month (there may be a mad rush this time next year OR government may change how it works and stop people doing it).
regarding the luxury car tax. at some point it is going to have to be added to EVs but I do think it's going on a bit soon. - or more accurately it should probably have a higher threshold at least for another year or so.

our i3 was over 40k new. (we didn't pay anything like that for it 2nd hand) . don't get me wrong it's a great little car but it's NOT a luxury car .
maybe it will time itself about right, there are a bunch of cheaper EVs about to come on stream so my hope is once the luxury car tax comes in for EVs we will see cars like the born have long range models come in under the lux tax bracket.

imo having a car specced for long range does NOT.make it a luxury car....
Trouble is they fix a price and that's it. There is never a simple or flexible approach to any problem.
 
What are we taxing though? It isn't "road tax" any more so it's not the use of the roads. It's not exhaust emissions based anymore so... what exactly is being taxed as that will determine what the metric should be for how much it is.

A flat rate approach indicates that it's a tax on simply owning a car. If that is correct then a flat rate for all is probably the correct method.
Ignore the word 'tax', should be about saving the planet moving forward as we're led to believe we're helping to do by driving an EV , hence why I think going on weight which is on the V5 I think, is a good idea. Will also help move people away from the idea of wanting a vehicle with the largest battery they can have for 90% of the time pootling around town (and carting that excessive weight around).
I remember owning a Z4 M Couple. A high emission car and was over £500 a year road tax. It's relevant as the car was only £40k or so(but 23MPG). Should maintain a similar approach for EV's. A heavy EV much more pollution from manufacture through to on the road efficiency.
It's another bad government decision, even moving away from it being exhaust emissions based IMO.
A flat fee for owning a vehicle doesn't seem right for these times either.
 
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yes I thought he was just going to renew on registered anniversary for only 6 months, to then time an annual renewal at 0, as close as possible before £180 kicks in.
e: surprised system even suggests you can pay the £0 renewal if it not on the anniversary
 
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That's more than I expected, and not bad for an early EV.

Just showing the point that ICE cars aren't immortal.
Absolutely, I agree with the sentiment I just hate random number generator sites like that! (and just for some balance)

The irony is that I bet in 15 years time EVs will be getting scrapped with perfectly serviceable drivetrains because the general maintenance costs are disproportionate to their monetary value... exactly what we do with ICE vehicles now.

Going back to tax for a minute, its simply a political tool. The fact is that the government needs to pull in x Billions of pounds to cover all the services and general government money wasting. How that is distributed is just based on the feeling of the day. Ultimately its just shifting the bill around.

"We could do with an extra £1.5bn in 27/28, any thoughts?"
"We could tax EVs?"
"What are the optics like within our voters for that likely to be?"
"Mainly in favour or of no opinion"
"Make it so..."

ALL THOSE IN FAVOUR SAY AYE!
AYE!
THE MOTION HAS PASSED. UNLOCK.
...and other such outdated BS.

Ignore the word 'tax', should be about saving the planet moving forward as we're led to believe we're helping to do by driving an EV , hence why I think going on weight which is on the V5 I think, is a good idea. Will also help move people away from the idea of wanting a vehicle with the largest battery they can have for 90% of the time pootling around town (and carting that excessive weight around).
I remember owning a Z4 M Couple. A high emission car and was over £500 a year road tax. It's relevant as the car was only £40k or so(but 23MPG). Should maintain a similar approach for EV's. A heavy EV much more pollution from manufacture through to on the road efficiency.
It's another bad government decision, even moving away from it being exhaust emissions based IMO.

OK, I think EVs are great for cleaning up localised air quality, but as for saving the planet? No. If we REALLY want to impact climate change we need to shift away from people hauling their obese body into a 2 tonne car to drive two miles up the road to buy a pie and a pint of milk. That milk having already travelled 200 miles from the farm via two distribution centres and sucked from the udders of intensively farmed cows by a farmer who is having his business screwed down to the bare bones because of market pressures on pricing. Our whole way of life needs to change and the chances of that are... slim (irony intended!).
 
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The difference with EVs though is you can't DIY/bodge it yourself to get it running again. If it's dead you need to fork out loads to get someone qualified to fix it. If it's a battery fault, it's scrap.

For old ICE cars you can often pick up used engines for a few £100.

EVs are technically modular and should be easy to repair, but in reality it's not financially viable and manufacturers don't put them together in an accessible way.
 
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The difference with EVs though is you can't DIY/bodge it yourself to get it running again. If it's dead you need to fork out loads to get someone qualified to fix it. If it's a battery fault, it's scrap. For old ICE cars you can pick up refurbished engines for a few £100.
How old are we talking here? Nobody is DIYing or bodging a serious engine rebuild on a modern ICE. For the vast of majority of older cars a dead engine will be uneconomical to repair.

EV drivetrains and batteries get recycled and re-used, same as ICE components do.
 
The difference with EVs though is you can't DIY/bodge it yourself to get it running again. If it's dead you need to fork out loads to get someone qualified to fix it. If it's a battery fault, it's scrap.

For old ICE cars you can often pick up used engines for a few £100.

EVs are technically modular and should be easy to repair, but in reality it's not financially viable and manufacturers don't put them together in an accessible way.
This is only because they are new technology, there's going to be a whole market opening up of new companies that repair batteries and inverters.
 
This is only because they are new technology, there's going to be a whole market opening up of new companies that repair batteries and inverters.

There was one, which fixed Tesla roadsters. It burned down a few years go in a giant battery fire.
 
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A flat rate approach indicates that it's a tax on simply owning a car. If that is correct then a flat rate for all is probably the correct method.
That’s absolutely right. It’s a car ownership tax.

A proper road tax should be based on mileage. And best way to do this is introduce tolls on motorways and any kind of dual carriage ways then somehow track all the local road usage. But most country operate tolls only charge for high speed carriages so makes sense in that motorway usage subsidise local roads.

If it is emission based then older cars should be taxed to the tilt with rising rates year on year.

The current scheme does feel like a punitive measure against EV and goes in the opposite direction of achieving net Zero
 
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How old are we talking here? Nobody is DIYing or bodging a serious engine rebuild on a modern ICE. For the vast of majority of older cars a dead engine will be uneconomical to repair.

EV drivetrains and batteries get recycled and re-used, same as ICE components do.
Exactly, the days of the roll up smoking, oil soaked overall wearing mechanic are pretty much at an end. Likewise for the budding home mechanic. They will always exist but in very small numbers.

If, I end up keeping my MX5 for the long haul I wouldn't be surprised if at some point in its life I'll be very grateful for a scrapped Leaf, Tesla, MG4 etc. because the motors are used as part of a conversion for old farts like me who want that vintage driving experience but don't want to be spending £20/L on unleaded and being banned from every city centre in the UK.
 
EVs are technically modular and should be easy to repair, but in reality it's not financially viable and manufacturers don't put them together in an accessible way.
Modular design is going the way of DODO.

Structurally integral battery pack makes replacement difficult and need a shop etc etc.

OEM will make battery replacement more expensive tbh the way I see it. The electric motors are unlikely to go wrong. It’s not like there are millions of movement parts in an ICE that can wear out. If they don’t make money on the battery they will loose quite a bit of revenue stream from all the wear and tear replacements.
 
If, I end up keeping my MX5 for the long haul I wouldn't be surprised if at some point in its life I'll be very grateful for a scrapped Leaf, Tesla, MG4 etc. because the motors are used as part of a conversion for old farts like me who want that vintage driving experience but don't want to be spending £20/L on unleaded and being banned from every city centre in the UK.
Take the engine out and swap it for a diesel and retrofit to run on cooking oil.
 
Why didn't you just use the trick on 31st March next year instead of starting it this year? :cry:
3 reasons mainly.
1) there is a chance loads of people will do it next year they may get swamped by people doing it
2) the government may decide its a loop hole and close it by automatically increasing the charge each month from April 25

but the main reason. 3) my memory is rubbish. this is the correct month to do it so may as well do it whilst it's in mind
 
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yes I thought he was just going to renew on registered anniversary for only 6 months, to then time an annual renewal at 0, as close as possible before £180 kicks in.
e: surprised system even suggests you can pay the £0 renewal if it not on the anniversary
I was but after googling enough people said that regardless of what the government website says when push comes to shove you can't tax an EV for 6 months ... they may be right or not but if not it would be too late if I waited till may to tax it

I then further read that it DOES allow you to tax your car even if already taxed it just warns you you will lose some money. either way this way so long as it works is better as I get 11 months instead of 6
 
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Renewal the tax before April 2025 regardless for 12months and you get 12months extra free tax?
that's about it yeah (11 months free but.......)

I just chose to align the dates this year so it's all done and dusted next year without having to worry about it
 
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when you put it simply like that , sounds absurd that they won't just autocratically say every bev pays from April 2025 -
1million ev's in total - £180M of revenue at risk ..but maybe Fujitsu do the IT system
 
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