Really worried about the possibility of “pay per mile”

[Yorkiepud2614]

I’ve been seeing more and more about this new proposal “pay per mile” that would replace car duty (I think). Which the average household bill somewhere around £450 - £600. Lots of reports that it may come in this October.
Living in the Highlands this would completely cripple us. Do people really think the new government will bring this change in?

I think it would possibly be the most unpopular policy decision in our lifetimes.

Yes, we really do think it will come in - that’s what all those gantries on the motorways are for! If cars do go all electric, something has to replace the revenue from the duty and VAT on petrol for the government’s tax take.

Just another policy designed to bash the rural poor who don't have any public transport or infrastructure.

Where are you hearing this?

How on earth are they going to track this in the highlands? Seems like something the infrastructure is not ready for tbh.

They’d have to overhaul rural infrastructure for this to be fair. It’s ten miles to the nearest town and buses stop at 6pm. Many local villages don’t even have a bus service these days.

I think it will come in, because if we really do go all electric how else will they replace all that fuel duty. (Which is apparently £850 on average per household and raises 24.7 billion) in that way you really are already paying per mile. What will be difficult is if they apply it to ice vehicles too.

We all already pay per mile via fuel duty. Duty is a huge proportion of the pump price. VAT on the car when you buy it, car tax every year, insurance premium tax, tax on fuel

It’s been popping up on a lot of new sites in the past 48 hours. Rumours are for October

I'm sure it's coming for all the reasons already mentioned, but I think there will have to be a tiered pricing structure for rural areas where distances can be huge. The ANPR network is up and running except in places like the Highlands.

Literally impossible to come in this October. How do you think they will know how many miles you’ve done. The infrastructure isn’t there.

ICE cars already pay per mile.

The question is how we tax electric vehicles without shoving it onto car tax on an all you can eat basis: which would be punitive and unaffordable for elderly or disabled people who only use their cars for short local journeys.

Sorry, I meant they think it’s going to be announced in October.

Well they would have to significantly improve public and 'green' transport options for the whole of the UK, not just the cities before that could ever be a realistic option. I don't think it would raise enough revenue to justify the cost required to make it viable. The Government and most people don't care enough about environmental targets to spend money that they can't recoup somehow.

The telematics boxes that most new drivers have to have to get insurance will be part of the infrastructure.

Well they know how many miles you’ve done at mot as it’s recorded then. So assume it will be based on that. We are very rural but do less miles than we ever did while commuting in the central area. Working from home and school buses keep miles down.

My MP is surveying about it on her socials as we speak.

Gosh I hope not. I drive a lot to home visits for my job and can't see our ( struggling) charity paying out for this ! The mileage we get paid barely covers petrol and wear and tear.

The state of the country's finances (not to mention the roads), plus the move to electric means this is more than likely to come in. It will be hugely unpopular, I really hope that we become inspired by our french neighbours and absolutely protest this. They will need to put some significant money and upgrades into public transport and infrastructure as this will absolutely cripple rural areas and almost anywhere outside of London. Will there be a payback scheme for workers who absolutely need to use their own transport (carers for example) or will all carers get company vehicles? Or will anyone not living on a public transport route or walking distance just be denied care as no-one wants to pay per mile for work?

If public transport was plentiful and affordable I'd love to use my car less. I wanted to take two dcs to London last week (both with student railcards). A return for three of us was 180. I drove instead.

Then Cornwall is fine - not a single mile of motorway in the county.

Never heard of it, but sounds like a great idea. We payg for all utilities and pretty much everything else in life so seems a very fair way of doing it. Heavy users pay the biggest charge due to pollution etc, I shall go research it incase I have misunderstood

It’s been rumoured for decades now. The initial thoughts were black boxes, but everyone complained about the government having ability to track people like that.

I don’t think it’s a bad way to manage the loss of fuel revenue. It needs to be managed (unlike ulez) and people with ICE shouldn’t be paying twice.
Number plate thefts will go through the roof and I don’t know how you manage that or even track that.

I volunteer at a counselling charity for two afternoons a week. It's an hour and half drive each way. No way will I do it if I have to pay per mile.

I really hope it comes in. Motoring is so unreasonably cheap - compare how little fuel duty has gone up vs train tickets. It’s an absolute scandal - people need to pay what it costs to keep roads in good repair. Why shouldn’t people pay for what they use?