The 23 cars exempt from £2,200 car tax change this April – full list

Motorists have been hit with staggering car tax bills in April as new Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) changes came into effect from the start of the month. One of these updates was tweaks to the Expensive Car Supplement (ECS) charges, with prices up and thresholds changed.

The ECS fee is a luxury car tax charge, an additional fee applied to more expensive cars for a period of five years. Before this month, the fee was £425 per year, but this increased to £440 per annum from April 1, meaning road users will pay £2,200 over five years.

However, ECS thresholds were also updated in April, meaning electric cars with a list price of over £50,000 are now charged at £40,000 instead of £40,000. The changes mean dozens of electric cars that used to pay the fee will now dodge the charge as their valuations fall between £40,000 and £50,000.

The fees are retrospective, applying to vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2025, meaning current owners as well as new buyers could make savings. Experts at Carwow have worked out which models could benefit from the new threshold changes, and it’s a real mix.

Electric cars from household brands such as the Ford Capri, Peugeot E-3008 and Skoda Enyaq Coupe are set to no longer pay ECS fees. Drivers looking for something more sporty without additional costs could also be in luck, with ECS fees likely to be removed from models such as the Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3 Premium.

But, experts have stressed that ECS fees are calculated based on the list price of a model, which is the valuation after any added extras have been applied. Although the base models may be below the £50,000 threshold, adding optional extras could push the price over £50,000.

Siobhan Doyle, consumer writer at Carwow, said: “It’s important to note that the expensive car supplement is implemented based on the purchase price of the car, meaning that not all versions of a model will necessarily be eligible.

“For example, if you go for a higher-specification trim, bigger battery, or simply pile on the optional extras, you could be charged extra if the car’s value exceeds £50,000.”