eVED is charged per mile, so what you pay depends entirely on how much you drive. Here's the charge at five common mileage bands, set against what a petrol driver already pays in fuel duty over the same distance.
| Annual mileage | Estimated annual eVED charge | Monthly equivalent | Fuel duty a petrol driver pays at the same mileage* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 miles | £150 | £12.50 | £344 |
| 8,000 miles | £240 | £20.00 | £550 |
| 12,000 miles | £360 | £30.00 | £825 |
| 15,000 miles | £450 | £37.50 | £1,032 |
| 20,000 miles | £600 | £50.00 | £1,376 |
*Illustrative, based on a petrol car averaging 35mpg at 52.95p/litre fuel duty. Sources: GOV.UK - Amended Fuel Duty rates for 2026 to 2027; RAC Fuel Watch, September 2026. Fuel duty is only one part of a petrol driver's running costs.
Fuel duty raises tens of billions of pounds a year for the Treasury, and that revenue falls as more drivers switch to electric cars that don't buy petrol or diesel. eVED is the government's mechanism for replacing that lost revenue from the vehicles that no longer generate it. It's a structural fix to how road use is funded as the makeup of UK roads changes - not a charge aimed specifically at electric car owners.
eVED applies to the registered keeper of any fully electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen fuel cell car. If you drive a petrol or diesel car, nothing changes for you under this policy - you'll continue paying fuel duty at the pump as you do now.
Each year you'll provide an odometer reading and estimate your mileage for the coming tax period; eVED is then calculated and renewed alongside your VED. You can pay upfront on that estimate or spread it across the year, with the year-end reading triggering a reconciliation. It is not a metered or real-time system.