Government plans for a new mileage-based electric car tax vastly increase the risks of car clocking, FleetCheck has warned.

The proposal for the new Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) replaces lost fuel duty revenue with rates of 3ppm for fully electric vehicles and 1.5ppm for plug-in-hybrids, with mileage checked annually at an MOT station.

Peter Golding, CEO at FleetCheck, said eVED bills could easily run into hundreds of pounds, while adjusting mileage was cheap, simple and difficult to detect.

“If you’re covering 20,000 miles a year in an EV, your eVED bill will be £600. For a few people, the ease with which that amount can be reduced will be difficult to resist.

“Despite modern digital odometers, clocking remains common and simple. Some estimates show about one in seven cars are affected and, while the equipment needed varies from model to model, it can often be bought cheaply or a no-questions-asked ‘mileage adjustment’ company found through a search online.

“Making a change can be as simple as plugging into the onboard diagnostics port and altering a number. It takes moments.”

Risks of clocking are elevated by a sense among many drivers that the overall concept of eVED is “unfair”, as shown by anecdotal feedback.

The concept of a pay-per-mile tax to plug a massive revenue gap from the switch to EVs has been mooted for several years, and advocacy groups such as Campaign for Better Transport and the Council for Net Zero Transport have called for action.

Golding cautioned: “eVED is one of those ideas that sounds great when discussed by a thinktank. Because it links car use directly to tax, it appears fair. However, it misses the point that generations of drivers have been conditioned to believe that you pay VED once and then travel as far as you want. There is no real precedent for assessing car tax on levels of use.

“This is an issue that has very real potential, we believe, to increase the number of clocked vehicles on the used market. The current impetus for clocking comes from two sources – increasing the value of the vehicle or reducing lease mileage – but eVED has the potential to outstrip both of these.”

A government consultation on the eVED plans is currently underway and closes on 18 March, while a Transport Committee also ran an inquiry exploring the impact of the planned eVED pay-per-mile tax.

Golding said he expected clocking to be a key issue for discussion.

“There are many reasons why eVED is a poor idea for replacing lost fuel duty revenue but the potential for clocking is among the most prominent. It’s easy to carry out and for those tempted, probably feels like a victimless crime.”

The BVRLA has also called on fleets and leasing firms to take action on the Government’s plans for eVED scheme.

It’s urged fleet operators and leasing firms to write to their MPs to take action.

Speaking following the eVED announcement in the Autumn Budget, the industry body said the plans were “poorly timed and very problematic to implement”.

Thomas McLennan, director of policy and public affairs, commented: “The BVRLA has long called for a considered, strategic introduction of a new road user charging regime. The proposed eVED will not provide this. In its current guise, it is damaging.

“For the fleets, leasing companies and rental operators that have collectively invested billions in EV fleets, the measure adds more than a cost that eats into the TCO benefits of electric over petrol. It poses an administrative nightmare too.

“We need members and their business customers to unite in making the Government aware of the damage the current scheme would inflict on our sector.”

The trade body has called for the current plans for the eVED scheme to be replaced by “considered, cross-sector collaboration, which is the only way to develop a new regime that delivers the funds the road network needs in a fair, sustainable way”.

To access the HM Treasury’s consultation on the eVED plans, click here.