Motorists face £620 car tax bills in April (Image: Getty)
Motorists with the keys to these vehicles face eye-watering £620 bills due to major in weeks. Up until now, zero-emission have been exempt from road tax fees as an incentive to drive demand. However, with owners slapped with costs for the first time.
All owners of registered after 2017 will be which will sit at £195. However, many EV owners will be slapped with an extra £425 Expensive Car Supplement (ECS) charge
Many electric car owners will be hit with an additional Expensive Car Supplement (ECS) fee (Image: Getty)
The ECS fee is an extra charge slapped onto some of the most expensive models on the road between the second and sixth years of their lifespan.
The fee is only applied to cars with a list price of only £40,000 but the high upfront cost of electric models
Experts at explained: “New electric cars (registered on or after 1st April 2025) with a list price of £40,000 or more will also be subject to the expensive car supplement.
“This means an additional charge (£425 per year) will apply from the second to the sixth year of registration, bringing the total to £620 per year for that period.”
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The increase in electric VED rates will come into effect from April 1, meaning drivers have less than three weeks to prepare.
Previous research from motoring experts at revealed as many as 80% of EVs on UK toads could end up paying the ECS charge.
It means owners of brand-new electric models could end up paying over £3,000 in car tax bills during the first six years.
The £20 first-year charge added to five consecutive payments of £620 between years two and six would ensure road users splash out a whopping £3,120 just to use the road.
Despite the dramatic change, a new survey has revealed thousands of UK motorists
A poll by revealed that as many as 45% of Britons were oblivious to the new updates despite the massive impact the move could have on motorists’ wallets.
Motoring experts at previously said: “As more people moved over to electric driving and enjoyed the previously free road tax, less tax was being paid by UK drivers.
“It makes sense that the government would apply tax to electric vehicles because of this – though we’re not saying it’s fair.”