Electric car mileage rates split the same way every mileage rate does, by whose car it is, but the split matters more for an electric car because the two figures are so far apart. For a company electric car HMRC publishes advisory electricity rates, currently 7p a mile for charging at home and 15p a mile for public charging, reviewed each quarter with the other advisory rates. For an employee's own electric car the rate is the approved mileage allowance, 55p a mile to 10,000 business miles and 25p after, the same as for any other private car. This page explains why the two are so different, how to apply each, and where the electric company car mileage rates worksheet on this site works both.
Company electric car: the electricity rates
The employer bears the car, so a business mile costs only the electricity, and HMRC's advisory electricity rates put a figure on it: one rate for charging at home, a higher one for public charging, because public charging costs more per unit. An employer can pay those rates for business miles, or a driver can repay private miles at them, without a tax charge. Electricity is not fuel for the fuel benefit charge, so an employer that pays for all the car's charging creates no fuel benefit.
Own electric car: the approved rate
The approved mileage allowance is a per-mile figure for the whole cost of running the car, and an electric car is not cheaper to insure, depreciate or tyre than a petrol one, so the rate is the same: 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the year, 25p after. A driver who charges cheaply at home and claims the approved rate is not doing anything wrong; the rate was never a fuel rate.
Applying the right rate
Ask whose car it is. Company car: electricity rate, split between home and public charging according to where the business miles were charged, which the worksheet blends into a single pence per mile. Own car, including one funded by a car allowance: approved rate, with the 10,000 mile threshold and the relief claim on any shortfall. A company electric car paid at the approved rate is taxable pay for the excess.
Home chargers and workplace charging
A charger installed at a company car driver's home, and electricity for charging a company car at the workplace, are exempt from a benefit charge. Charging a private electric car at the workplace is exempt where the facility is available to all employees. Those exemptions are separate from the mileage rate and sit on the company car pages on gov.uk.
Questions people ask about electric car mileage rates
Which rate do I use for a plug-in hybrid company car?
Hybrids are treated as petrol or diesel for the advisory fuel rates, so a plug-in hybrid uses the petrol or diesel rate for its engine size, not the electricity rate.
Do the electricity rates change?
Yes, with the other advisory rates on 1 March, 1 June, 1 September and 1 December. The worksheet cites the date the rates were read.
Can I claim the approved rate on my own electric car if I charge at work for free?
The approved rate for business miles still applies to your own car; free workplace charging is a separate exemption, not a deduction from the mileage rate.