The Government is moving ahead with plans to make hybrid drivers liable for a new pay-per-mile tax, even if they barely use their vehicles in electric mode.

Plug-in hybrid cars (PHEV) will become liable for the new electric road tax scheme from 2028, with each mile driven attracting a 1.5p fee, half the 3p levy paid by owners of electric vehicles (EVs), says the Daily Telegraph.

Last year, justifying the policy, the Treasury said PHEV motorists drove “more or less than 50% in electric mode”. But analysis published by the Department for Transport last week revealed that the Government had overestimated the number of miles plug-in hybrid owners covered with battery power.

“Evidence indicates that PHEVs complete a smaller proportion of their journeys in electric mode than previously assumed,” the document on fuel efficiency read.

Critics said the decision to tax PHEV drivers pay-per-mile and fuel duty felt like “double taxation”.

Despite this, the Government will press ahead with the tax in two years’ time. Known as electric vehicle excise duty (eVED), the tax is being introduced to offset some of the money lost from dwindling fuel duty receipts.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimates pay-per-mile will bring in £7bn for the Treasury come 2050. That is far below the £24bn currently raised each year from fuel duty.

In announcing the pay-per-mile scheme last autumn, the Treasury said getting drivers to report their petrol versus electric mileage would be too impractical, and that the reduced rate for PHEVs was a fair balance, “protecting motorists’ privacy and minimising administrative burdens on motorists”.

PHEVs currently account for 12% of new cars sold, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Under the Government’s zero-emission mandate, manufacturers will be banned from selling new plug-in hybrids from 2035.

(Picture: Yay Images)