If you’ve been paying attention to news from across the pond, you know the political situation in the UK is in absolute turmoil right now, and their country’s financial situation is right behind it. Like all western governments, the UK is running on borrowed funds, and the politicos realize they need to raise funds to pay the bills. So whose wallets will they set their sights on? Turns out, electric vehicle owners are going to soon have to pay the vehicle excise duty, aka the road tax.

Like many governments, the British leadership had exempted EV owners from the road tax in previous years, in an attempt to convince more motorists to make like Bob Dylan and go electric. When you also factor in the reduced running costs of EVs (no fuel, and reduced mechanical maintenance), EVs started to look like a pretty smart financial decision. Even in the world of motorcycles, battery bike owners often cited lower ongoing ownership costs as a benefit to ditching ICE bikes.

Nothing is for sure yet; the EV road tax is supposed to start in 2025, and lots can change before that. However, it seems very likely that this tax is indeed coming for EVs, driving up the cost of ownership, even if it’s just a little bit (currently, the plan is to charge EV cars only £10 the first year, and then the same as other vehicles in the years after). But it’s not the only rise in expense; UK owners have also seen big jumps in their electricity costs, which drives up the price of charging their battery bikes. Indeed, even before this road tax move was announced, some UK motorcyclists were wondering if battery bikes would soon have the same running costs as a gasoline bike, given the jump in hydro rates.

Who knows? It is certainly worth pointing out that at the same time as EV costs rise, ICE motorcycles also see prices rise for gasoline, with potential to rise a lot more, so battery bikes may remain less expensive in the long run. It’s also worth pointing out that the UK’s decision to increase costs for EVs is echoed in other parts of the world, with leaders thinking of new ways to tax road users as gasoline tax income slips away. There’s never a free ride in the long term, and even if gasoline taxes disappear from your budget, there will soon be other taxes to take their place.

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