This week’s Budget announcement introducing a 3p per mile charge on electric vehicles sparked a wave of reactions. Some called it unfair, others called it premature.
At ORKA, we see something different:
You only tax what has arrived.
Governments don’t levy charges on fringe ideas. They tax things that are stable, mainstream, and economically meaningful. For decades, petrol and diesel sat in that position. EVs have now joined them.
And that matters — not because the tax exists, but because of what it signals.
The shift has already happened on the ground
Before politicians ever touched EV mileage, the real transition was already underway:
- Engineering teams designing systems that work with existing building capacity.
- Installers trenching, cabling, future-proofing and returning in the rain when something won’t handshake with the grid.
- Manufacturers and software providers iterating through supply chain challenges to deliver chargers that fleets and staff can rely on.
- Businesses trialling chargers for a handful of drivers, then finding themselves with waiting lists a year later.
This is where the transition is actually built — not at podiums, but in depots, car parks, office sites and warehouses.
For North-east businesses, EV is no longer “new technology”
Across the installations we’ve delivered in the last 18–24 months, a pattern is clear:
- Phase 1:
“We need a couple of chargers — just enough to support staff with EVs.” - Phase 2 (6–12 months later):
“We’re getting more requests. Can we add more chargers?” - Phase 3:
“We need to manage access, tariffs and fleet usage properly.” - Phase 4:
“It’s now part of how we operate.”
The 3p per mile announcement isn’t creating that transition — it’s reacting to it.
“The conversation isn’t ‘should we have EV charging?’ anymore,”
says Duncan Booth, Director at ORKA Solutions.
“It’s ‘how do we integrate it with solar, battery and existing power so it works every day without fuss?’”
That’s a fundamentally different question.
It’s a sign of maturity.
A quick history lesson we’re all familiar with
Every infrastructure shift follows the same trajectory:
- Support
- Scale
- Acceptance
- Taxation
No government taxes experiments.
They tax what works.
Whether we like the 3p per mile rate or not, it’s the clearest acknowledgement yet that EV is no longer a novelty sitting on the periphery of business planning.
It is mainstream.
It is stable.
It is used daily.
It is relied upon.
What this means for Scottish organisations
It doesn’t mean spend more.
It means plan better.
- Design infrastructure around usage, not just vehicles owned today.
- Use software management to control access and cost.
- Build in ducting and capacity upfront to avoid ripping up car parks later.
- Treat EV charging the same way you treat any business-critical system:
with maintenance, scalability and proper design.
This isn’t a technology race.
It’s an infrastructure maturity curve — and businesses that approach it realistically will save themselves headaches, time, and capital.
From transition to integration
At ORKA Solutions, this is exactly where we operate.
Not in theory — but on the ground:
- integrating EV systems with solar and batteries,
- designing for busy depots and commercial car parks,
- making sure infrastructure works every day, not just on launch day,
- supporting businesses as usage grows, access expands, and needs evolve.
Electric vehicles aren’t the future.
They are the present, and the Budget just confirmed it.
https://orka-solutions.co.uk/news-insights/ev-charging-isnt-an-experiment-anymore-and-the-budget-just-proved-it
If you’re planning to add EV charging — or expand what you already have — let’s talk.
Whether it’s a small car park or a multi-unit commercial site, we’ll help you build something that lasts.