Aberdeen EV charger firm Connected Kerb is calling for the Budget to end a £200-a-year ‘pavement tax’ on drivers who rely on public charging
This month we opened a new manufacturing and innovation hub in Aberdeen, where we will build thousands of electric vehicle (EV) chargers for communities across Britain.
It is a significant commitment for our business and a positive story for the North East of Scotland. The facility keeps specialist manufacturing and engineering capability in Aberdeen and gives us a UK base from which to support the expansion of public charging across Scotland and the rest of the country.
Connected Kerb already operates more than 10,000 public charge points and expects to deploy another 25,000 over the next three years. The Aberdeen facility will support that expansion by giving us a greater confidence in the supply of the chargers our network needs.
Our long-term contracts stretch from Ceredigion and Plymouth to South Tyneside, Oxfordshire, Coventry and Kent, as well as boroughs across London. In Scotland, we have deployed chargers in Aberdeenshire, Glasgow, Stirling and Edinburgh and our network continues to grow through relationships with councils and private landowners.
Electric cars are no longer a niche part of the transport system. September saw another record month for EV sales, underlining how quickly they are becoming part of everyday motoring.
That makes it concerning that the government is considering a further softening of the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate. The mandate gives vehicle manufacturers and charging operators confidence to invest against a clear trajectory. Weakening it risks slowing charger deployment just as EV sales are growing. If government wants more people to make the switch, rather than softening the targets it should focus on the barriers drivers actually face, particularly affordability.
Connected Kerb is investing in reliable public charging and energy management technologies that can help drivers keep costs down. But affordability remains a significant concern for drivers and is an area where government has an immediate opportunity to make a difference.
The Prime Minister has put the cost of everyday essentials at the heart of his agenda, promising to get bills and fares down and give households some “breathing space”. Charging the car increasingly belongs in that same conversation.
Around 10 million households in Britain do not have access to off-street parking. Those households are disproportionately found in lower-income and densely populated areas, where benefits of cleaner air and cheaper electric driving could be particularly valuable.
Yet drivers parking on-street and relying on public EV charging are treated differently by the tax system.
If you have a driveway, you can charge your car at home and the electricity is now subject to 0 per cent VAT. If you live in a flat or terraced house and rely on a public charger near your home, you pay 20 per cent.
For a typical EV driver reliant on public charging, that VAT difference amounts to around £200 a year. It is a “pavement tax” that penalises people simply because they do not have somewhere to plug in at home.
For households watching every pound, that difference matters. Paying less to charge the car means more money left for everything else.
That is why we are asking the Chancellor to use the Budget to end the driveway divide and to cut VAT on near-home public charging to the same rate as home charging. We are not arguing that every form of public charging should be treated like charging at home. The priority should be chargers used on-street close to where people live: home charging for people who cannot charge at home.
Importantly, Connected Kerb is committed to passing on the savings from any downward VAT adjustment directly to drivers.
Cutting VAT on near-home public charging would put money back in drivers’ pockets and help more households make the switch to electric. It would also support the wider EV market without weakening the ambition that is driving investment today.
The Chancellor should use the Budget to end the driveway divide.