Banning sales of petrol and diesel cars from 2040 will pave the way for widespread road charging by the government to make up for the shortfall in vehicle excise duty, a Bristol-based industry expert has warned.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove announced the ban this week to tackle rising levels of toxic air pollution, particularly in cities.
But Prof Graham Parkhurst, director of UWE Bristol’s Centre for Transport and Society, said the move was “largely symbolic” as replacing fuel-driven vehicles with electric ones would not solve the issue by itself.
However, he said it would usher in pay-as-you-drive on most roads.
“With or without this announcement, the days of governments across Europe relying on fuel excise duty as a key source of taxation are ending; a decline that I first observed in a publication in 2002.
“As electricity for domestic use is the same as for road use, it would not be straightforward to charge tax on it at different rates for different purposes. The most likely alternative is a pay-as-you-drive road user charge, not limited to cities.”
Prof Parkhurst, who has more than 25 years of experience researching and teaching transport and mobility studies, said it would not make sense only to charge for road use in cities or just in places with high congestion.
“First, the charge would have to be very high if it were only applied in congested places. Second, road use would be so cheap given the current price of electricity that car use would increase sharply if no charge were applied to uncongested roads,” he said.
“It is most likely that road charges will be applied in the context of roads become more of a ‘mobility service’, with charges being made for allowing travellers to use their vehicles in ‘driverless’ mode on motorways, possibly in reserved lanes, and/or for charging on the move.
“Trials are underway on the possibility for motorway lanes which allow inductive charging, such as is currently available on a much smaller scale for some battery-powered items such as smartphones and electric toothbrushes.”
UWE’s Centre for Transport and Society is a research unit that aims to improve and promote the understanding of the inherent links between lifestyles and personal travel in the context of continuing social and technological change.
