Government dismisses calls for fairer pricing at public electric car chargepoints – RAC reaction

Following the Government’s initial rejection of a proposal to bring VAT on electricity charged to drivers using public electric vehicle charge points into line with that charged to those charging up a home,

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “It’s disappointing the Government appears to be closing the door on fairer taxation for electric vehicles. The real issue is that those EV owners without driveways will be hugely dependent on public chargepoints, so it cannot be fair they are effectively being hit with a much higher rate of taxation than those that can charge at home. If the Government wants to make electric vehicle ownership truly universal, it needs to rectify this anomaly quickly.”

Quentin Willson, founder of the RAC-backed FairCharge campaign, said: “With the huge windfall in Treasury receipts because of higher oil and fuel prices there’s plenty of fiscal room to bring VAT on public charging down from 20% to 5%. For those without driveways or parking spaces the 20% VAT levy will mean millions of voters will be excluded from driving an EV. This is a massive Treasury policy blunder with serious societal implications. FairCharge has worked out that at the current rate of EV adoption, lowering the VAT on public charging would cost just £14 million. That’s a tiny raindrop echoing in an ocean.”