{"id":123207,"date":"2026-07-20T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T11:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=123207"},"modified":"2026-07-20T11:47:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T10:47:24","slug":"car-charge-drivers-wont-see-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/car-charge-drivers-wont-see-coming\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u00a35,690 Car Charge Many Drivers Won\u2019t See Coming"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Some UK drivers buying high-emission new cars face significantly higher tax costs after changes to <strong>Vehicle Excise Duty (VED)<\/strong> increased first-year charges for the most polluting vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">First-Year Car Tax Rises Hit High-Emission Models<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The biggest increases affect owners of newly registered cars with high CO\u2082 emissions. From 2025, first-year <a href=\"https:\/\/obr.uk\/forecasts-in-depth\/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend\/vehicle-excise-duty-2\/#:~:text=Vehicle%20excise%20duty%20(VED)%20is,car&#039;s%20official%20CO2%20emissions.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">VED rates<\/a> were increased, with some vehicles emitting more than <strong>255g\/km<\/strong> of CO\u2082 seeing their charge rise from <strong>\u00a32,745 to \u00a35,490.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rate has since increased further with inflation, reaching <strong>\u00a35,690<\/strong>. Cars producing between <strong>226g\/km and 255g\/km<\/strong> of CO\u2082 also saw major changes. Their first-year tax rose from <strong>\u00a32,340 to \u00a34,680<\/strong>, before increasing again to around<strong> \u00a34,850.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These higher charges apply only during the first year after registration. After that period, owners move to the standard VED rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-123212 size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1165\" height=\"708\" src=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/07\/econo-uk-us-visual-selection-2026-07-20T120250.333.png\" alt=\"drivers\" class=\"wp-image-123212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/07\/econo-uk-us-visual-selection-2026-07-20T120250.333.png 1165w, https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/07\/econo-uk-us-visual-selection-2026-07-20T120250.333-380x231.png 380w, https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/07\/econo-uk-us-visual-selection-2026-07-20T120250.333-520x316.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1165px) 100vw, 1165px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Credit : Econostrum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Government Says Changes Support Electric Vehicle Adoption<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Treasury said the increase was designed to encourage buyers to choose lower-emission vehicles. Officials said higher charges for polluting cars would help support the transition towards zero-emission vehicles while generating additional revenue for public services and infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The changes were expected to raise around<strong> \u00a3415 million in 2025\/26<\/strong> and a further <strong>\u00a3410 million in 2026\/27.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Electric cars can be GPS-tracked for Rachel Reeves&#39; eVED tax sting &#8211; and 3p-a-mile rates will rise with inflation despite 15-year fuel duty freeze <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KcMLnznGTS\">https:\/\/t.co\/KcMLnznGTS<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Daily Mail (@DailyMail) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DailyMail\/status\/2076792730110345329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 13, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Standard Car Tax Also Continues to Increase<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The first-year charge is not the only vehicle tax affected by recent increases. Standard VED rates have also risen through <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ons.gov.uk\/economy\/inflationandpriceindices\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Retail Price Index (RPI)<\/a><\/strong> inflation adjustments. For many existing vehicles, the annual standard rate is now around <strong>\u00a3200<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Electric vehicles, which were previously exempt from VED, are also facing new tax arrangements as part of wider changes to the vehicle taxation system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Drivers Face Changing Costs Under New Tax Rules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The changes come as motorists continue to deal with higher ownership costs, including insurance, fuel and maintenance expenses. While the largest increases affect buyers of high-emission new vehicles, the wider VED changes are part of a broader shift in how road taxes are structured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The government has argued that adjusting <a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/millions-of-vehicles-hit-with-higher-taxes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">vehicle taxes<\/a> can encourage cleaner transport choices and help fund public spending. For drivers considering a new car purchase, the level of emissions can now have a major effect on the initial cost of ownership, particularly for vehicles in the highest tax categories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UK drivers face higher costs as changes to vehicle taxation continue to reshape the price of owning a car. Some motorists could see a major increase when buying a new vehicle, while the government says the changes are aimed at supporting cleaner transport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":123214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123207"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123222,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123207\/revisions\/123222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}