Octopus Electric Vehicles has committed to paying for Rachel Reeves’ new pay-per-mile EV tax for 20,000 existing customers. Octopus said motorists who have already made the switch to electric models would face no extra charges despite the new rule.
Customers on an Octopus EV lease who completed an order by November 28 will be fully protected from the new fee. Octopus has predicted that almost 20,000 drivers are set to benefit from the move, admitting those who made an early switch to EVs would be “rewarded”. It comes after Rachel Reeves confirmed plans to introduce a 3p pay-per-mile charge for all electric cars from April 2028 to offset the loss of petrol and diesel fuel duty.
Gurjeet Grewal, CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles, stressed the new policy would mean existing customers “won’t be affected” by the higher costs.
Gurjeet said: “EV drivers should contribute to road upkeep, but fairly and at the right time. Until the details are finalised, we want our existing customers to know they won’t be affected. They made the switch early, and we’re rewarding that commitment by absorbing the new tax and keeping their costs steady.”
As well as combating the extra fees, Octopus has also confirmed it will be monitoring the Government’s consultation process to determine how the tax will work. They have suggested any new charges should have a strong focus on keeping things simple for drivers.
Octopus has also committed to ensuring that any new admin fee will be kept to a minimum, using technology to deliver a hassle-free experience for customers.
Gurjeet added: “Our customers shouldn’t have to wade through new forms or fiddle with extra mileage reports. If there’s admin to be done, we’ll make it as easy as possible. We’ll be contributing to the government’s consultations on their new tax rules to help ensure they’re fair and easy for drivers to navigate.”
Octopus is not the first EV brand to counter Rachel Reeves’ pay-per-mile policy, with leading manufacturer OMODA and Jaecoo already confirming an EV tax rebate scheme. The new policy is offering new customers a manufacturer-funded saving to help get customers behind the wheel.
The Chinese manufacturer is offering the equivalent of 20,000 miles of tax-free running which they claim would “effectively cover the first few years of this new tax”.
Gary Lan, CEO of OMODA and Jaecoo previously said: “We want to make the transition to electric driving as smooth as possible for our customers immediately – not three or four years from now.
“Our EV Tax Rebate for the OMODA E5 and JAECOO E5 effectively covers the first few years of this new tax, giving drivers the equivalent of thousands of miles of zero-cost motoring.”
