[Moose Test]

If a flate rate pay-per-mile system is the answer, then the problem we're attempting to address cannot be CO2 emissions / environmental impact.

To reverse the EV argument, IF this is the real objective it cannot be right for me to burn 2x the amount of fossil fuel than than a small hatchback to make the same journey and both of us still pay the same mileage charge. In exactly the same way that taxing me off the road so that a new vehicle has to be manufactured doesn't address that issue either.

As I've said previously, governments need to decide exactly what the fundamental objective and desired outcomes are and then select means which can correctly achieve them.

Anything is possible in today's "internet of things" world e.g. charging duty could be levied on EV charging points relative to the daily UK national grid energy mix of renewable vs fossil. There's no fundamental reason that fuel duty revenue has to be suspended simply because we're switching to new "fuels". You can bet that if hydrogen gets introduced as motor vehicle fuel then fuel duty will be collected on it, exactly as for petrol, diesel and LPG today.