Tesla Is Trying To Increase Taxes On Petrol And Diesel Cars In The UK

Tesla is trying to increase taxes on petrol and diesel cars bought and sold in the UK and is currently lobbying to the UK government in a bid to try to increase EV sales.

The objectives of this lobby is to increase taxes on fuel and the purchase of ICE cars, with the hope that this would mean the government can push more money into the EV sector through grants, less tax on EV cars, and investing in the charging network. If this goes through, EVs could become much cheaper, while ICE cars would see a dramatic rise in price.

“Supporting zero-emissions vehicle uptake via mechanisms to make new fossil-fueled cars pay for the damage they cause is entirely reasonable and logical. The result can be a revenue-neutral system for the government,” Tesla wrote in its filings, which was found by The Guardian. 

The UK government is intimidated by such changes, however, as the UK public would certainly fight back against the rise in prices. For over a decade now, the UK has frozen fuel duty, resulting gin a loss of £50 billion. Tesla’s want for hybrid cars to be banned is also going down like a lead balloon, with the government pushing back this ban to 2035 after the initial target of 2030. As you can imagine, there’s been a huge backlash from traditional automakers who are opposed to this change.

In fact, The Guardian states that Tesla was the only car manufacturer who argued for a total ban on all petrol and diesel cars, as well as a bad on all hybrid cars by 2032. Alongside this, Tesla also called for automakers to sell a percentage of zero-emission vehicles alongside ICE and hybrid models, and initiatives for people to swap to EVs over standard ICE cars.