‘Ludicrous’: Proposals for electric car tyre tax attacked – ‘Nonsensical idea!’

GB News guests debate using electric cars

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Earlier this month, Professor Alastair Lewis, chair of the Department for Transport Science Advisory Council, argued that particulate matter emitted from electric car tyres posed a risk to public health. He said that it posed a larger problem than CO2 emissions from petrol and diesel vehicles.

Professor Lewis added: “PM 2.5 is considered to cause the largest amount of damage to public health… Nitrogen dioxide [from diesel fumes] comes second.”

He also suggested that charges for low emission zones are likely to be replaced with alternative levies as drivers switch to electric vehicles.

Mike Coulton, EV Consultant at Volkswagen Financial Services UK, explained that a proposed “tyre tax” linked to particulate emissions from EV tyres is “nonsensical”. 

He said: “It’s vital we continue to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) if we are to meet the Government’s own 2050 net-zero targets.

“Claims that zero-emission EVs emit more particulate matter (PM2.5) from tyres alone than their petrol or diesel counterparts have been widely discredited.

“It seemingly ignores the fact that existing petrol and diesel cars, including large SUVs and 4x4s, already emit particulate matter from their tyres, in addition to their NOx tailpipe emissions, which are a major contributor to PM2.5 concentration levels in urban areas. 

“To claim EVs emit more particular matter than these vehicles is, frankly, ludicrous.

“An EV-focused ‘tyre tax‘ would be a worrying deterrent to zero-emission vehicle uptake, which in turn will undoubtedly have a negative impact on air quality at a local level. 

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“It’s a nonsensical idea.”

Tyre wear is the second largest microplastic pollutant in the environment, after single-use plastic.

It is estimated to account for up to 50 percent of air particulate emission from road transport.

Mr Coulton also said it was important that we remember the technological advancements with electric car technology.

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With battery sizes and weights continuing to decrease, the same driving range can be achieved from a smaller battery.

As technology improves and the overall weight of batteries reduces, drivers will be able to invest in an electric car for cheaper.

He says the argument that EVs are heavier and thus have increased tyre wear is “already outdated”.

According to the UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC), the switch from combustion engine vehicles to achieve 2050’s net-zero ambition necessitates that 55 percent of all light duty vehicles are battery-powered by 2032. 

This equates to over 23 million vehicles in 10 years time.

The organisation state that there will need to be up to 49 million electric cars by 2050 – making up 100 percent of the UK’s vehicle fleet.

It states that Government and private sector intervention will be needed to implement a number of policy and market mechanisms to speed up the transition.

Mr Coulton added: “Indeed, anecdotally we’ve heard from fleet drivers that tyre and brake wear is vastly reduced in electric cars and vans versus their petrol and diesel counterparts. 

“The very nature of an EV powertrain, being smooth and linear in its delivery, is much kinder to tyres under normal acceleration. 

“When slowing down, regenerative braking is also much gentler on tyres than braking in an ICE vehicle, which usually happens much later and thus more harshly. 

“Combined with a great focus on efficiency, EVs are seeing prolonged tyre life – often in excess of 30,000 miles – and reduced brake wear to boot.”

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