EV Pay-Per-Mile Tax: What It Means for Solar Charging

The EV pay-per-mile tax is now confirmed: from 1 April 2028, drivers of electric cars will pay 3p for every mile and plug-in hybrid drivers 1.5p a mile, on top of ordinary vehicle tax. If you charge from rooftop solar, the headline question is simple: does a mileage charge wipe out the saving from free sunshine? Short answer: no, but it does change the sums. Here is what the government has actually confirmed, and how to work out the effect on your own driving.

What the EV pay-per-mile tax (eVED) is

Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) is a new mileage-based charge. According to the government's eVED policy page, from 1 April 2028 battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars pay 3p per mile and plug-in hybrids pay 1.5p per mile. It is administered by the DVLA alongside standard Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), and the policy aims to replace fuel duty revenue lost as more drivers switch to electric. The government says around 5.6 million vehicles will be in scope in 2028-29.

The July 2026 consultation response confirms the core design and describes the 3p rate as half of the equivalent rate of fuel duty.

How you pay and what changes later

• Estimate your mileage. You estimate annual mileage when you renew vehicle tax. Per the eVED policy page, you can pay upfront or spread the payment across the year, with a mileage reading triggering a reconciliation against what you actually drove.
• It sits alongside VED. eVED is an additional mileage charge, not a replacement for the existing system.
• Rates rise with inflation. The rate will be uprated in 2029-30 and in future years in line with CPI inflation, so 3p is a starting point rather than a fixed figure.
• Vans and larger vehicles are out of scope at launch. The consultation response lists vans, buses, coaches and HGVs as outside the charge.

What it costs a solar-charging household

The arithmetic is straightforward. At 3p a mile, 10,000 miles a year costs £300 and 5,000 miles costs £150. That cost applies however the car is charged: rooftop solar, a cheap overnight tariff or a public rapid charger. The government's documents say nothing about home charging or electricity, so there is no discount for solar-powered miles.

What solar changes is the other half of the running cost. Ofgem's cap from 1 October 2026 puts electricity at 26.32p per kWh, according to UKEM. As an illustration only, assuming a typical car covers around 3.5 miles per kWh (your car will differ), grid electricity at that rate costs roughly 7.5p a mile. Add eVED and the total becomes about 10.5p a mile, so the new tax adds around 40% to the per-mile cost of grid charging.

If your panels cover the charge, the electricity cost per mile falls sharply, leaving eVED as the main running cost. The honest caveat is that solar is not strictly free: every kWh you put in the car is a kWh you could have exported. See our guide to sizing solar panels for EV charging for how much of a typical year's driving a roof can realistically cover, and remember that winter generation is thin.

Does it change whether solar plus an EV is worth it?

It narrows the gap but does not close it. Petrol and diesel drivers still pay fuel duty at roughly double the eVED rate, according to the government's own comparison. Two practical points follow:

1. Cheap electricity matters more. With eVED a fixed cost per mile, the part you can still control is the electricity price. A smart charger on an off-peak tariff or surplus solar is where the savings are; compare options in our best EV charging tariffs guide and our explainer on solar EV charging and smart scheduling.
2. Public charging is the real loser. eVED applies to all miles, so drivers who cannot charge at home pay the mileage charge on top of dearer public electricity, which still carries 20% VAT; see EV charging VAT: home vs public.

Timing: other deadlines to keep in mind

eVED is more than a year and a half away. Closer deadlines matter more for your solar and EV plans. Household electricity VAT is 0% from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 (see what the 0% VAT cut means for solar), and the 0% VAT on installing solar panels and batteries is also scheduled to end on 31 March 2027. If you are weighing a new EV, our Electric Car Grant explainer covers the upfront support.

What to do now

• Do not change plans because of 3p a mile. The charge starts in April 2028 and electric cars remain far cheaper per mile to run for most home chargers.
• Estimate your own number. Multiply your annual mileage by £0.03 (or £0.015 for a plug-in hybrid) and add it to your charging cost to compare against a petrol car.
• Maximise cheap or self-generated electricity. That is the one variable eVED does not touch.