There would be taxation implications also- I guess road tolls in some shape or form- or individual car monitoring?? Don't think the chancellor will let us escape that one.
Why, just because the car is propulsed using electricity rather than fossil fuels doesn't mean the car has to be spied on etc.
Look at the way fuel is taxed. Battery cars would have a battery that would last several years say, and afterwards its recycled/disposed of. The battery is easily replaced and put in the car and on it goes.
There are two options.
1 Make home charging illegal (just like untaxed fuel) and the car is recharged at a charging station and the power is taxed extortionately as petrol is. The owner then lumps the cost of the battery and its recylcing just like they lumped oil changes, clutches, gearboxes (in case of valeo) in internal combustion cars. Remember batteries are expensive, but the car is cheaper as there are much less moving parts. The costs of battery motoring this way wouldn't be much more. The battery could be bought back by its supplying company for a price pre determined before its purchase by the consumer. A bit a lease/PCP etc.
2. Make home charging legal/make electicity pretty much free @ charging stations and tax the battery to buggery and back. The owner of the battery would pay a huge VAT + duty on the purchase price of the battery and this could be paid monthly/weekly back the battery supplier who'd give the chancellor his cut. The battery, once its lost its cunning would be recyled etc.
Motoring with battery cars could go on as normal. Just because an car is electric doesn't mean now we should be spied on. Batteries/electicity can be taxed just like road fuel and we do not need tolls/gps based monitoring. Anyone that says you do is quite frankly wrong.
Just think of the world this would open up. Would you get a manufacturer approved battery or go aftermarket to get a better one. If you did long journeys you'd buy a bigger one, if not you could go for a smaller cheaper one. Would the battery be fitted at a dealer or a DIY job. So long as the battery can plug in and be unplugged (like a laptop) then I don't see the problem as the hardware (the car) life span isn't shortened
