The government are considering bringing in road charging to plug a £40billion black hole deficit as more people switch to electric cars & pay less fuel duty and also the looming ban on internal combustion engine cars by 2030. dailymail.co.uk/news/articl … roads.html
I’ve just been reading that the upcoming Euro Cat 7 emission standard could de facto ban cars with combustion engines as early as 2025 
electrive.com/2020/11/16/vd … -standard/
Something like this was inevitable once HMG reduced the VED on small or electric/hybrid type vehicles. The loss in revenue has to be recouped somewhere, yet a low-rate or exempt vehicle still takes up as much space and causes as much wear to road surfaces as its petrol or diesel equivalent. I’ve just had to pay £270 for the privilege of using my LPG-powered van on the road for the next twelve months. Ironically, its emissions are lower than some of those in the £30 tax bracket.
So obviously only the electric vehicle users would need to pay it.
What they actually mean is road fund licence + road fuel duty + road charging and even the road charging will mean more tax not just an equivalent tax.
So people travel less which means the motor industry and leisure industries take a hit and even less tax revenues.
Regressive purchase based taxes just mean that people avoid buying/doing whatever they are imposed on.
By necessity in a low income environment.
As for internal compustion engines there is nothing in the rules which stops alternative fuelled ICE like Hydrogen.
But the vehicle manufacturers see more profit in an electric toy sold at a proper motor price or more.
fodenway:
Something like this was inevitable once HMG reduced the VED on small or electric/hybrid type vehicles. The loss in revenue has to be recouped somewhere, yet a low-rate or exempt vehicle still takes up as much space and causes as much wear to road surfaces as its petrol or diesel equivalent. I’ve just had to pay £270 for the privilege of using my LPG-powered van on the road for the next twelve months. Ironically, its emissions are lower than some of those in the £30 tax bracket.
I wonder if the VED tax brackets will change after 1-1-2021! the new Euro Cat 6 (d) emission standard of 80kg/km starts then. I was reading that the commuter routes will be the most levied with road charges and other congested roads will be levied as to what time you use them, I can see the V2X (vehicle to everything) chip along with GPS will automatically bill your account monthly, VW new cars already have this technology in them. forbes.com/sites/samabuelsa … 2faf0c16bc