New road tax shouldn't have a 'blanket approach'

The owner of an electric car hire company in the Channel Islands has called for a "considered approach" to any potential new road tax in Guernsey.

It follows Environment and Infrastructure (E&I) plans to explore implementing the tax alongside a drop in fuel duty.

Nick Perchard-Rees, CEO at EVie, said that he was in favour of the tax, as long as it isn't "a blanket approach".

E&I President, Adrian Gabriel, said: "There's going to be different bandings for your weight or even what emissions your vehicle is emitting."

Perchard-Rees agreed a road tax which included electric vehicles was fairer, but said the banding should be "a measured scheme."

He said: "You should really be looking at vehicle size, the vehicle weight, what the overall impact that vehicle has in its environment."

He added that there should also be "some mitigation" of the tax on public transport.

Ian Vaudain, from Donkey Taxis Guernsey, agrees electric vehicles should be included in the tax.

He said: "Electric cars weigh an awful lot more than petrol and diesel cars and therefore when they're on the roads they are creating more damage."

"They should contribute some money or more tax towards the upkeep of Guernsey roads," he added.

Robert Cornelius, President of Guernsey Motor Trade Association, said the tax may prevent people buying electric cars.

He said: "There's a big incentive for someone to buy an electric vehicle because they're not paying 90-something pence of duty per litre of fuel.

"If you reduce that, and then make additional charges, that potentially might not make it look as attractive to change to electric."

Gabriel said previously there would be "no flat rate" of road tax.

He added: "A clean electric vehicle, for example, emitting zero on the roads will be paying less than an older vehicle."

Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.