With the government's focus on sustainable transport, many are curious about what incentives and initiatives will be announced for electric vehicle owners. But what about traditional gasoline and diesel drivers? Will there be any changes to fuel duty rates?
This afternoon Jeremy Hunt's latest Autumn Statement has not delivered much for motorists unfortunately, read on to find out more.
EV Incentives
One of the main focuses of the UK government is to transition towards sustainable transport, and electric vehicles (EVs) have a significant role to play in achieving that.
In the 2023 Autumn Statement, we expected to see incentives for EV owners such as grants towards purchasing new electric vehicles, additional charging points, and tax credits.
Whilst no grants were referenced in todays statement, the chancellor confirmed investments of £2 billion boost for zero emission projects as well as looking at unnecessary planning constraints to help with the acceleration of expanding of electric car charging infrastructure.
VAT on Charging
Electric vehicle charging points are becoming more common in the UK, but there is still a lack of charging infrastructure in many areas.
The government has previously announced plans to increase the number of charging points available, but there is also the question of how these points will be taxed. Currently, VAT is charged on electric vehicle charging.
Prior to the statement made this afternoon, there was talks of reducing or even eliminating this tax to encourage more drivers to switch to electric.
Changes to VAT on charging could have made EV charging more affordable and accessible for drivers across the UK, however this change wasn’t announced in the Autumn statement, causing upset for EV experts.
Public Transport
In addition to EV incentives, we expected to see investment in public transport to make it more sustainable.
The government had demonstrated its commitment to investing in transport infrastructure by allocating £10 billion towards this goal.
Fuel Duty Rates
During the Spring budget announcement, we saw the chancellor freeze fuel duty at 52.95 pence per litre for 12 months and the 5 pence per litre discount which was originally introduced in March 2022 was extended by 12 months, keeping petrol and diesel prices steady at the pump.
Today in the Autumn statement, Jeremy Hunt protected the 5p fuel duty despite pressure pressure to hike the price up.
