Ford UK’s boss warns against taxing electric cars

The British government’s drive towards a transition to electric vehicles could be hindered by the imposition of new road user charges, the head of Ford in the UK has warned.

Ford UK’s managing director Lisa Brankin has cautioned against new taxes at a time when uptake of EVs is slower than the government wants it to be. 

Automotive companies need comply the UK’s Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, which sets out a pathway to achieving 80% of new car sales being EVs by 2030.

Failure to meet set quotas sees the car companies face fines. 

Fully electric vehicles made up around 22.4% of total new car sales, data for 2025 up to 31 October shows. This time last year it was 18.1%. However, EV sales are driven by heavy discounting across car sales forecourts as well as a lower resale value in the second-hand EV market as indicators that the market she described as “distorted”.

Brankin welcomed the government reinstating a grant worth up to £3,750 to encourage drivers to buy electric vehicles. She said Ford would not be able to reach that 80% target without government help, such as the grant.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sean Farrington on the Big Boss Interview podcast, Brankin said: “When the target was set a number of years ago, the outlook for demand around electric vehicles was buoyant and there seemed to be momentum behind electric vehicles. What we're seeing now is that customer demand is not in line with that ambition.”

A large proportion of new EVs are sold to businesses for their employees, who benefit from lower rates of company car tax compared with diesel or petrol-fuelled options. Brankin has urged the Chancellor to retain this green fleet tax benefit in the upcoming Budget.

The conversation turned to reports that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering a new pay-per-mile charge for electric vehicles from 2028. The rumours were fuelled when a Treasury spokesperson told the BBC: “Fuel duty covers petrol and diesel, but there's no equivalent for electric vehicles. We want a fairer system for all drivers.”

Brankin told Sean Farrington: “It's certainly not the right time to do it. That policy, in the face of really fragile demand for electric vehicles, is just another brake.”

She worried the administrative burden of calculating mileage could make potential EV owners think twice. Speculation about an EV road user levy was already causing some potential buyers to delay purchases, she reported.

“It's really easy to sell people things they want,” Brankin said. “It's hard to sell people things they don't want.  Electric vehicles in some instances have gone from being a great thing to being something that we're trying to push people into.”

Ford sells what is the UK’s most popular vehicle, a crossover called Ford Puma, while the company’s Transit van is the best-selling light vehicle.

In recent years the company has been withdrawing from various segments of the mass car market, ending discontinuing production of a family of small, medium and large models – the Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo. versions. The Puma is now the smallest car in Ford’s range. Instead, there has been a shift towards SUVs and crossovers such as the Capri, Mustang and Explorer, all of which have electric versions. An electric Puma Gen-E set to join a line-up. These vehicles are manufactured abroad and imported into the UK.

While Ford has not manufactured a vehicle in the UK since 2013, it employs around 6,000 people in the UK, with a diesel engine plant in Dagenham in Essex and a transmission factory in Halewood on Merseyside.

The Dagenham plant will build diesel engines up until 2030, after which its role will change. “We're working really hard on what the next life of Dagenham looks like,” said Brankin.