The electric vehicle mileage rate a driver should use depends on one question, whose vehicle it is, and then on whether it is a car or a van. A company electric car is reimbursed at HMRC's advisory electricity rate, 7p a mile charged at home and 15p at a public charger for the current quarter. An employee's own electric car or van earns the approved mileage allowance, 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the year and 25p after, the same as any other private vehicle. A company electric van is a different case again, with its own benefit rules. This page walks the three cases and the worksheet on this site works the first two.
Company electric car
Advisory electricity rate, home or public, applied to business miles; the worksheet blends the two by where the miles were charged. Paying the rate needs no evidence beyond the mileage log; paying above it is taxable unless the true cost is shown; a driver who repays private miles at the rate has no fuel benefit, and in any case electricity is not fuel for the fuel benefit charge. The rate moves with the quarterly review.
Own electric car or van
Approved mileage allowance at the two-tier rate, tax free from the employer up to the approved amount, relief on any shortfall. Vans use the car rates. The allowance covers the whole cost of the vehicle, so there is no separate claim for electricity, and the driver's saving from cheap home charging is theirs. The 10,000 mile threshold applies across the year and resets on 6 April.
Company electric van
A company van has its own benefit charge, at a fixed annual figure rather than a percentage of list price, and a zero-emission van's charge is set separately. Business miles in a company van are reimbursed for electricity at the advisory electricity rate as for a car. The van benefit figures are on the rates and thresholds page for the year and are outside the worksheets on this site, which are for cars.
Choosing the figure in a mixed fleet
Write the policy by vehicle class: company car at the electricity rate, own vehicle at the approved rate, company van at the electricity rate for miles and its own benefit charge for the van. A claim form that asks whose vehicle it is and what powers it applies the right rate without the claimant knowing the numbers.
Questions people ask about electric vehicle mileage rate
Is the electricity rate different for a hybrid?
Yes: a plug-in hybrid is treated as petrol or diesel for the advisory rates and uses the fuel rate for its engine size, not the electricity rate.
Can an employer reimburse the actual electricity cost instead?
For a company car, yes, where it can show the cost per mile; the advisory rate is the figure that needs no evidence. For a private car the approved rate applies and actual costs are not claimed.
Do the advisory electricity rates apply to a van?
Yes, for business miles in a company electric van, with the van's own benefit charge applying to the van itself.