EV road tax 2026/27: what changed on 1 April 2026
From 1 April 2026, the standard VED rate for electric cars rose from £195 to £200, and the Expensive Car Supplement threshold rose from £40,000 to £50,000 (the supplement itself rising from £425 to £440). The £10 first-licence rate did not change.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-13
2025/26 vs 2026/27, side by side
| Figure | 2025/26 | 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|
| Tax year | 2025-04-01 to 2026-03-31 | 2026-04-01 to 2027-03-31 |
| First-licence rate (car’s first tax payment) | £10 | £10 |
| Standard rate (from second licence) | £195 | £200 |
| Expensive Car Supplement threshold | £40,000 | £50,000 |
| Expensive Car Supplement amount | £425 | £440 |
Figures apply only to zero-emission cars first registered on or after 2025-04-01 — see below for cars registered earlier.
Who is affected
Only EVs first registered on or after 2025-04-01 move between these two rate sets, and only from the licence period that starts on or after 1 April 2026. Two groups are specifically unaffected by this change:
- EVs first registered 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2025 pay the standard rate only — it still rises from £195 to £200, but the Expensive Car Supplement change is irrelevant to them because ECS never applies to this band.
- EVs first registered 1 March 2001 to 31 March 2017 stay on the flat pre-2017 rate, unchanged by this uplift. See Electric car tax for the full breakdown by registration date.
Worked examples
These use 73 Auto’s own VED calculation rules for a car first registered 2025-04-01, now on its second (or later) licence:
List price exactly at the threshold — no supplement
A second-licence payment taken out on or after 1 April 2026 for a car with an original list price of exactly £50,000: the Expensive Car Supplement threshold must be exceeded, not just met, so this car pays the standard rate only — £200.
List price £1 over the threshold — supplement applies
The same licence, but the car’s original list price was £50,001: standard rate £200 plus the £440 supplement, for £640 total that year.
For the mechanics of exactly when the Expensive Car Supplement window starts and ends, see Expensive Car Supplement explained.
More on UK car tax
For how 73 Auto sources and calculates these figures, see Methodology and Data Sources.
See which figures apply to your EV
Enter a UK registration to get the confirmed VED figure for that specific car, using its actual first-registration date and licence history rather than a general rule.