Electric vans are brilliant for day-to-day work, they are quiet, cheap to run, and (for lots of trades) they suit stop-start driving perfectly. But one running cost has changed in a way that is easy to miss: Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), often called road tax.
Since April 2025, the old assumption of "EVs are £0 to tax" no longer holds, and that applies to vans too. This quick guide explains the current position for electric light goods vehicles and how to budget it properly if you are tracking trips for work.
Electric vans now follow the light goods vehicle VED rate
GOV.UK's EV VED guidance notes that most electric vans have moved to the standard annual rate for light goods vehicles (and links directly to the rates table).
For light goods vehicles (not over 3,500kg revenue weight), GOV.UK's current rates table (for "Other vehicle tax rates") lists:
- £360 for a single 12 month payment (including zero emission vehicles).
Takeaway: if you run an electric van for work, treat VED as a normal annual overhead, just like insurance, servicing, tyres, and charging.
Why this matters more for business mileage
If you use your van for work, you are already doing some form of record keeping, even if it is just a spreadsheet and a calendar. The moment you start putting numbers around "cost per mile", VED becomes much easier to understand.
VED is not mileage-based, but you can convert it into a pence-per-mile number using your actual annual mileage.
A simple way to budget it per mile
- If VED is £360/year and you drive 10,000 miles/year, that's 3.6p per mile.
- If you drive 15,000 miles/year, that's 2.4p per mile.
This is where a mileage log helps, because you are not guessing. You can base the calculation on your real driving pattern, then revisit it after a busy month or a quieter season.
Keep business and personal trips clearly separated
Lots of people use a work van for mixed use. If you are self-employed, run a small limited company, or just need clean internal records, a consistent trip log makes it far easier to:
- separate business vs personal journeys,
- see your "true" running costs per mile, including fixed annual costs like VED,
- spot changes in route patterns (new clients, new jobs, more motorway miles).
Quick checklist (UK electric van owners)
- ✅ Confirm your van is in the light goods vehicle category (most are under 3,500kg revenue weight).
- ✅ Budget VED as a fixed annual cost (do not treat it as "optional").
- ✅ Convert VED to pence per mile using your logged mileage, so it sits alongside charging and maintenance.
- ✅ Keep a clean split of business and personal trips, especially if you claim or re-charge mileage internally.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Vehicle tax for electric, zero and low emission vehicles
- GOV.UK, Vehicle tax rates (Other vehicle tax rates, light goods vehicles)
Track every mile with less faff
Ready to keep your EV mileage, trips, and running costs tidy?
Mileage Tracker helps you log journeys, stay on top of costs, and keep cleaner records for work or personal driving.