Path Holes |
Isle
of Man will levy road tax on Electric Cars from April 2020 to cover lost fuel
tax revenue from petrol and diesel vehicles.
Currently Zero-emission
vehicles are not taxed at all, but
from April 2020 they will be subject to
a £14 charge, infrastructure minister Ray Harmer has told the Isle of Man
Parliament.
He said tax is necessary as
funds collected from petrol and diesel vehicles will “rapidly decrease over the
next 10 years”. and while
it is “good to incentivise”, there are “other reasons” for people switching to
electric cars, including improvements in technology.
He described at as a “difficult
balance” of moving towards a new environment with electric vehicles, and the
ongoing responsibilities of road maintenance.
“The highways need to be repaired and
we need money to do that,” he said.
Currently, there are 280 electric
vehicles and 706 hybrid vehicles registered on the island.
In October 2019, House of Commons’ Transport Committee called
for a national debate on road pricing anticipating an electric car revolution,
and suggested some schemes including a Pay You Drive Road Tax.
Some Financial experts have predicted
that the popularity of electric vehicles could lead to nationwide road tolls for all
drivers totalling £700 a year,
so it’s likely that the UK government will be paying close attention to the
Isle of Man electric vehicle charge.
The Isle of Man Green Party (IOMGP) spokes person said financial incentives are
“important in encouraging the adoption of low carbon transport”. and while a tax is to be expected, removing the
incentives before people own an electric car is counter productive.
Do you think the government should be incentivising
drivers to take up electric vehicles or perhaps you think it’s only fair to
tax them like this? Leave us a comment below