Tesla Road Tax UK (Explained): How to Tax your EV?
Here’s your complete guide to road tax for electric vehicles like Tesla in the UK.
I recently got a letter from DVLA for Vehicle Tax Reminder (VED). For the first time since owning a vehicle in the UK, the amount to pay towards road tax is £0. 🎉
But this doesn’t mean you don’t need to tax your Electric Vehicle. In this post, I will go through everything you need to know about taxing your zero-emission vehicle in the UK.
As I go through the process of getting my Tesla Model 3 taxed in the UK, I have documented it for you.
In this post, I have explained how to tax your Tesla online (with pictures) – read on!
Okay, let’s get started then.
Tesla Road Tax UK: Who Is This EV Guide For?
This guide is for:
- Existing owners: If you are due to tax your Tesla in the UK, this guide will help you with the step-by-step process of submitting road tax on electric vehicles.
- Future owners: If you are planning to own an EV in the near future, this guide covers everything you need to know about road tax for Teslas (and other EVs) in the UK.
If you’re planning to buy a Tesla, don’t forget to use a Tesla Referral code that gives you free supercharger miles to try on the Tesla charging network. (Discontinued)
How is Road Tax Calculated in the UK?
For all vehicles registered since March 2001, Road Tax (officially known as Vehicle Excise Duty – VED) is calculated based on Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions of your vehicle, the year it was registered and the price of the vehicle itself.
For vehicles registered before March 2001, the VED tax is calculated based on the engine size.
Let’s look at how it stacks up specifically for Electrics based on your vehicle.
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs)
BEVs are also termed zero-emission vehicles.
In the UK, starting April 2020, you don’t pay any road tax on a pure electric vehicle i.e. cars that rely completely on battery power.
Tesla vehicles have Zero Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions hence, completely tax-free for both the first year and subsequent years.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs)
Depending on how much your PHEV emission is, you are likely to pay between £0-£100 for your first year and £140 every year after that, depending on the levels of CO2 emissions.
Luxury Car Tax UK
After the first year of ownership, Electric Vehicle owners used to pay a premium luxury car tax of £325 from year two onwards for five years on cars with a list price of £40,000 or more.
For Zero-emission vehicles to be exempt from any road tax in the UK, the list price of cars had to be under £40,000.
Even though Tesla vehicles were exempt from the Road Tax due to 0g/km of CO2 emissions, as a Tesla owner, you still had to pay the additional UK luxury car tax.
As part of changes in the 2020 budget, pure battery-operated EVs are now fully exempt from this additional luxury tax.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the removal of “premium car tax” making the Teslas purely road tax-free vehicles from April 2020 onwards. This exemption is in effect for five years up till 2025.
That means:
If you have your first tax year tax due in 2020 or 2021, that’s a massive saving of £1625 as you can benefit from all “premium tax” years until 2025.
If you have a Plugin Hybrid EV, you still need to pay this additional premium tax from Year 2 onwards.
How Much Does Road Tax for Electric Vehicles Cost?
Based on the information about BEVs, PHEVs and luxury tax mentioned above, here’s how it looks based on CO2 emissions:
| CO2 Emissions | First-year tax | Second-year onwards | Added Premium Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 g/km | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| 1-50 g/km | £0 | £140 | £325 |
| 51-75 g/km | £15 | £140 | £325 |
| 76-90 g/km | £100 | £140 | £325 |
| 91-100 g/km | £125 | £140 | £325 |
| 101-110 g/km | £145 | £140 | £325 |
How Much is Road Tax for Teslas in the UK?
The Road Tax (VED) for pure Battery Electric Vehicles like Tesla in the UK is £0 (after the new changes introduced in 2020). That means you don’t pay anything towards car tax (VED) on any Tesla cars including Model S, Model 3, Model X and the latest Model Y.
Zero road tax for a zero-emissions vehicle! Sweet. (click to tweet)
FAQs About Road Tax for Electric Cars
The 16-digit reference number is located at the top of the V11 reminder letter. You’ll need this number to tax your vehicle or declare it as SORN online, at a post office or over the phone.
Below is an image of the actual V11 (Vehicle tax reminder) letter.
No, you don’t pay road tax on BEV (Battery Electric Vehicles) like Tesla in the UK however, as an owner, legally you do need to tax it for £0. Learn more.
How to Tax Your Tesla in the UK
You don’t need to pay anything towards UK road tax if you own a Tesla but you are still required to tax it (at £0) every year.
Here’s the step-by-step process of how to tax your Electric Vehicle in the UK.
- Step #1. Go to this link and click the “Start now” button.
- Step #2. Select Yes if you have received the V11 reminder letter that should carry a reference number. Click Continue.
- Step #3. Enter the 16-digit reference number from the V11 reminder letter and click Continue.
- Step #4. On the next screen, review your vehicle details. If any of the details on this step are incorrect, you can click on the “Incorrect details?” link to contact DVLA. If everything looks alright, click Continue.
- Step #5. The next step should show you the details for the Road tax – start date and the amount to be paid, which for a pure electric vehicle like Tesla is £0.00. At this step, you can enter your email address to get a confirmation of the road tax submission from DVLA.
- Step #6. Congratulations, you’ve just taxed your Tesla in the UK. At this stage, you can print this page or if you entered your email address in the last step, you should have got an email with the confirmation.
Wrapping Up!
There you have it – all you need to know about road tax for electric vehicles along with an example and a quick guide on how to tax your Tesla in the UK.
If you found this Tesla road tax UK guide useful, don’t forget to sign up for the TeslaStir newsletter so you don’t miss any new updates from TeslaStir in the future. You can also follow me on Instagram for my adventures on my Tesla Model 3.
