Nearly 60 car models to face £5,690 car tax in April – check if your vehicle is affected – UK Times

Owners of nearly 60 car models from two dozen manufacturers could be set to pay £5,690 in April as road tax rates jump for the 2026 financial year.

First-year Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) has jumped up from £5,490 by £200 for a total of 59 models. These include popular brands like Audi, Ford and BMW.

The rise comes after the government massively increased first-year VED charges for petrol and diesel vehicles in April 2025 from £2,745 to £5,490. This is a fee paid by the owner of a brand-new car before it transitions to the much lower standard rate in subsequent years.

The highest rate is payable only for owners of the highest CO2 emission vehicles, producing more than 255 grams per kilometre.

For all cars, the first-year rate ranges from £10 to £5,690, based on emissions. This lower level is only for cars with zero emissions – for even 1g/km it will rise to £110.

For the average petrol car, which has emissions of around 143g/km, the charge would be £560. For the average diesel car, which has emissions of around 164g/km, it would be £1,360.

Another rule change saw electric cars charged for VED for the first time, with another pay-per-mile scheme coming into effect from April 2028.

For those with cars that have already been registered, road tax is much lower but it is still going up. The annual standard rate for the second year onwards will increase from £195 to £200 in April.

Here are the models that will attract the £5,490 charge in the first year: