Autobesity! Cars should be taxed based on how heavy they are, to help consumers choose the greenest, expert claims
Cars should be taxed based on how heavy they are to help customers choose the greenest cars, a leading car expert has claimed.
Nick Molden, founder of environmental research firm Emissions Analytics, has warned that Britain is living in an ‘age of car excess’ and called for new measures to end consumer confusion.
He said a car’s weight multiplied by the distance traveled is a better way to calculate its environmental impact.
Molden states that this could replace existing tax methods and apply to all car types with a simple implementation, as the data can be easily obtained.
His proposal would see a driver pay £100 less per year if their vehicle is 150kg lighter than average or if it is driven 620km less per year than average.
“We examined dozens of different pollutants from vehicles, including carbon, noise, infrastructure impact and safety, and 83 percent of them correlate well with mass,” he said.
‘Mass is a very good abbreviation for the total environmental impact of vehicles. This method does not charge people for extra taxes, but allows everyone to make their own free choice without the government watching.
“It’s your decision to (buy a heavy vehicle) or not. No one is banning the technology or saying you can’t go to your grandmother’s, but you have to pay for the right.’
Motorists should be taxed based on the weight of their vehicle, according to car experts
Nick Molden (pictured), founder of environmental research company Emissions Analytics, has warned that Britain is living in an ‘age of car obesity’
Molden said the government must take action because it is losing tax revenue from the electrification of cars.
“This is a very simple initiative that does not require prior legislation – so you simply base a tax on two figures that have a legal basis,” he added.
‘It just so happens that it contributes to environmental impact and is the right policy at the right time.’
He claimed that under his proposal there is a way for people with larger cars to save money.
“If you want that big, heavy SUV, you can compensate by being sensible about the trips you take,” Molden said.
The average weight of new cars in the European Union has risen to 1,518 kg in 2022, an increase of 19 percent compared to 2001, mainly due to the shift to electric vehicles.
One in four new vehicles sold in Britain is electric and although these cars emit no tailpipe emissions, they still contribute to air pollution.
As tires, brake pads and roads wear out, toxic particles are released and this process is accelerated in heavier cars.
Battery-electric vehicles are on average up to 40 percent heavier than comparable petrol and diesel cars, according to research in the book Critical Mass by Molden and Felix Leach.
The average weight of new cars in the European Union has risen to 1,518 kg in 2022, an increase of 19 percent compared to 2001
According to Nick Molden, a Tesla Cybertruck produces more emissions than the average small 1.2 liter petrol car
Molden believes this has led to confusion among drivers about the best way to be environmentally friendly, pointing out that an all-electric Tesla Cybertruck produces more emissions than a small 1.2-liter gasoline car.
‘The whole subject has become terribly complicated. “The only thing people can cling to is ‘buy electric,’ but that’s not a good decision-making system,” he said.
‘Look at the mass in the brochure and you will know almost everything you need to know about the environmental impact. You can forecast the amount of tax you will have to pay in the year and calculate how much each trip will cost you.
“Without stunning people with science, it gives them a very simple decision-making tool and right now people are turning away with conflicting messages and that’s creating confusion.”
The electric Tesla Model Y weighs around 2,000 kg and became Europe’s best-selling car last year, displacing the Peugeot 208, which weighs around 1,200 kg in its petrol version.
Cars that were previously light have become heavier in recent decades, including the Volkswagen Golf which weighed 775kg in 1974 but has since doubled in weight.
Norway introduced a tax on cars weighing more than 500kg in January 2023 and two years ago France introduced a €10 tax on petrol and diesel cars for every kilogram over 1,800kg.
While Cardiff Council discussed whether larger vehicles should pay more for their residential parking permits.