DVLA ‘£50,000’ alert for UK drivers planning key | Tech News

Drivers planning to make a main change are being urged to verify one essential quantity beforehand – £50,000.

The DVLA has issued a reminder that electric automobiles with a record price of £50,000 or much less are no longer liable for the controversial costly car complement, doubtlessly saving motorists £2,200 in street tax over 5 years. The warning comes after a main overhaul of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), which noticed electric autos lose their long-standing exemption from street tax in April 2025.

However, following widespread criticism from the motor industry that many household EVs can be unfairly caught by the previous £40,000 threshold, the Government elevated the restrict to £50,000 for zero-emission automobiles first registered from April 1 2025.

The DVLA mentioned: “Buying an electric car? Electric cars priced £50,000 or under are no longer subject to the expensive car supplement if they were first registered from April 1 2025.”

Drivers might save £2,200

The costly car complement applies for 5 years, ranging from the second 12 months a vehicle is taxed.

For electric automobiles costing more than £50,000, the invoice is now:

• First 12 months: £10
• Years two to 6: £640 a 12 months, made up of the usual £200 VED plus a £440 costly car complement.
• Year seven onwards: The tax falls back to the usual annual charge of £200.
• That means patrons of EVs priced above the edge can pay an additional £2,200 over the five-year period in contrast with homeowners of automobiles costing £50,000 or much less.

Motorists ought to word that the edge relies on the vehicle’s official record price when new, together with factory-fitted choices, somewhat than any supplier reductions they negotiate.

Popular electric automobiles that now escape the surcharge

• Tesla Model 3
• Tesla Model Y (most variations)
• Hyundai Ioniq 5
• Kia EV6 (many fashions)
• Skoda Enyaq
• Volkswagen ID.4
• Renault Scenic E-Tech

However, patrons of premium electric automobiles and higher-specification fashions should discover themselves over the restrict. Depending on specification, autos such because the BMW i5, Audi Q6 e-tron, Mercedes-Benz EQE and a few efficiency variations of the Tesla Model Y stay liable for the complement.

Change follows backlash

The transfer represents a partial climbdown after ministers ended the street tax exemption for electric autos in April 2025. For years EV homeowners paid no VED, however underneath the new guidelines all electric automobiles now pay street tax.

New EVs registered from April 1, 2025, pay £10 within the first 12 months earlier than transferring to the usual £200 annual charge, whereas older electric automobiles registered between April 2017 and March 2025 now additionally pay the £200 customary charge.

The determination to raise the costly car threshold to £50,000 adopted warnings from producers that battery-powered automobiles sometimes value more than equal petrol and diesel fashions, that means many atypical household EVs would have been caught by the posh tax regardless of not being thought of luxurious autos.