When every car is electric, what happens to fuel duty and the electricity grid?

An electric car parked at a charging point. With more and more cars like this, the demands on the electricity grid will grow. In the UK the Treasury will lose billions of pounds presently brought in by “road tax” and tax charged per litre of diesel and petrol. How can that lost revenue be found? And can the grid survive?

It’s always fun taking someone as a passenger in a modern electric car for the first time, because you know they’ll be surprised by two things. First: the lack of engine noise, so when you manoeuvre at low speeds, there’s no sound. Second: wild acceleration. Pressing the accelerator is like turning up a dimmer switch on a light: do it as fast as you like…