Budget 2025: Rachel Reeves dealt major blunder as OBR publishes incorrect car tax figures

In the report, the office had warned the new car tax would see 440,000 fewer electric cars on the road over a five-year period.

But the Department for Transport has now told GB News there is an error in the report.

The electric car road tax was announced yesterday at the Budget by the Chancellor, who stated the measure would ensure fair charging for petrol, diesel and electric vehicles.

Ms Reeves told Parliament: "Because all cars contribute to wear and tear on our roads, I will ensure that drivers are taxed according to how much they drive and not just by the type of car they own, by introducing Electric Vehicle Excise Duty on electric cars.

"This will be payable each year alongside Vehicle Excise Duty at 3p per mile for electric cars and 1.5p for plug-in hybrids."

But in the earlier released version of the OBR report, it warned that as a result of this measure, "we estimate there will be around 440,000 fewer electric car sales across the forecast period".

It added that 320,000 of this will be offset by the expected increase in sales due to other Budget measures.

However, a Department for Transport source told GB News: "In a development that will surprise no one, please note that the OBR made (another) error in the outlook document.

"The assertion that eVED will reduce sales by eight per cent or over 440,000 over five years is incorrect."

This would be the second time that the OBR has made a mistake relating to the Autumn Budget. Before Ms Reeves even began her speech, the OBR had accidentally released its forecast early.

This resulted in a lot of the measures the Chancellor would announce being leaked ahead of schedule. This hasn't happened since 1947 when then-Labour Chancellor Hugh Dalton had his speech published in The Star newspaper.

Under the new car tax rules, the Budget has estimated that it will see an average EV driver pay around £240 per year or £20 per month.

For other vehicle types, such as vans, buses, motorcycles, coaches and HGVs, the Treasury stated that they "will be out of scope of eVED" when it is introduced, with the transition to electric power for these vehicle types being currently less advanced than for cars.

GB News has contacted the OBR for comment.