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As representatives across civil society, we are calling for the introduction of a new weight based supplement to be added to Vehicle Excise Duty for the largest and heaviest vehicles in the Autumn Budget.
Such an addition could raise almost £2 billion annually, which could support public services and be reinvested in the UK’s transport system and infrastructure by fairly taxing oversized luxury SUVs.
Cars across the UK are getting bigger:
- SUVs now make up two thirds (66%) of sales compared to only half (51%) in 2021.
- The bonnet height of new cars in the UK is increasing by half a centimetre a year on average
- Cars are also getting 1cm wider every two years - a phenomenon known as ‘Carspreading’.
Large SUVs cause greater damage to our roads and diminish space in our communities.
- A two-tonne SUV causes 16 times more road damage than a one-tonne car, directly costing the taxpayer by increasing necessary spend on filling potholes and road maintenance.
The growing number of larger cars on the road also means cyclists have less space to manoeuvre, and the increased parking space they take up causes encroachment onto pavements, narrowing pedestrian routes. The tallest cars pose a direct safety risk to children - with analysis finding that drivers in the tallest cars could not see children as old as nine when they were in front of the vehicle.
They are also more polluting:
-On average, SUVs consume around 20% more fuel than an average medium-size non-SUV car.
- 77% of new SUV registrations in the first half of this year were petrol, diesel, hybrid, or PHEV - impacting air quality and locking in higher emissions for more than a decade.
- Local authorities are now recognising the impacts of these vehicles on their communities and taking action.
Cardiff Council recently approved a proposal to introduce a weight-based parking surcharge in the city, while the London Assembly has agreed to a motion, proposed by Labour members, to increase taxes and parking fees on SUVs. However, it is crucial that national policy is implemented to fairly tax these vehicles across the whole of the UK.
VED doesn’t currently reflect the true impact of large vehicles on our roads.
The UK acts as a tax haven for these cars, with the UK ranking 16th among European countries for tax paid on the purchase of a big SUV. Under the current system, a buyer in the UK would pay up to twenty times less tax for the same luxury large SUV than they would in France.
Introducing a Large Vehicle Levy in the Autumn Budget would raise almost £2 billion annually, which could fund measures such as fixing potholes caused by these large vehicles and supporting the EV transition through measures to help lower income households access electric vehicles.
This approach offers a fair starting point for generating revenue from electric vehicles without discouraging the adoption of BEVs for most drivers. It maintains strong incentives for smaller battery-electric cars, which are central to the green transition, while raising almost £2 billion a year - more than other proposed EV tax options. The measure could also be quickly adopted as early as next year.
