By Melissa Lawford 

Tony Blair’s think tank has said Jeremy Hunt must “urgently” introduce a road tax which would make driving electric cars more expensive.

James Browne, senior policy adviser at the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), called on the Chancellor to introduce a new system of road pricing to stop the country becoming “gridlock Britain”. The Telegraph has the story.

Analysts have warned that the Treasury must step in to plug a £25bn black hole in the nation’s finances and stop traffic jams from surging as more motorists shift to electric vehicles (EVs).

This will happen because EV drivers do not pay fuel duty. As the Government phases out petrol cars as part of its push to get to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, this means Britain’s fleet of cars will become far cheaper to run.

As it becomes cheaper, people will drive more, while the Treasury’s tax take from fuel duty disappears.

Mr Browne said: “This [road tax] needs to happen urgently, before too many people buy electric vehicles on the basis that they will not be taxed, making it impossible to introduce it later.”

A report published by the Tony Blair Institute in 2021 warned that Britain will spend 50pc more time in traffic as driving becomes cheaper. 

By the Government’s own estimates, over 50 years, the transition to EVs will cost the economy an extra £52bn because of extra congestion and £5bn because more cars on the roads will mean more road accidents.

While an EV costs around 4p per kilometre to drive, a petrol car costs 10p. That means a 400 mile (644km) drive from London to Edinburgh would cost an EV driver £26 in charging costs, while the driver of a petrol car would pay £64 in fuel.

The transition away from petrol cars will also leave a gaping hole in the nation’s finances.

The Treasury’s tax take from fuel duty will fall from £25.1bn in 2022-23 to zero in line with the Government’s planned transition to net zero by 2050, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

Mr Browne said: “With fuel duty fading as a source of revenue, the government needs to set out a plan for moving towards road pricing as soon as possible.”

Read the full story here.