PHEV MAKERS FIND A NEW TAX LOOPHOLE

At the recent launch of the Vauxhall Astra Hybrid-e, we questioned the gap between the 37-mile quoted electric range and the 43-mile range measurement for working out its benefit-in-kind tax band. The difference is a money saver, dropping the PHEV from the 12% band into the 8% band.

Why the two figures? Amazingly, this is down to a decision by HMRC to allow from 6 April 2020 companies to quote what is called the equivalent allelectric range (EAER), rather than all-electric range (AER).

AER is what you would expect: the range covered in ‘charge depleting’ mode before the engine fires up. But EAER also includes an element of engine running, so it is not emissions-free.

Why? Many PHEVS don’t completely decouple the engine in electric-only mode, so EAER is as good an approximation as you will get, despite it not being actually zero-emissions driving. BMW, for example, warns in the small print that pureelectric mode isn’t available in sub-zero temperatures “until after the vehicle has travelled a few miles”. In the world of PHEVS, ‘zero emissions’ isn’t quite as billed.