A retired bishop faces a bigger tax bill after swapping his old diesel VW for an environmentally friendly vehicle
A retired bishop who replaced a polluting diesel car with a much greener plug-in hybrid model has described the government’s environmental policies as “completely mad” after his road tax rose from zero to £480 a year.
The Rev Robert Paterson, who lives near Evesham in Worcestershire, was hit with the bill after switching to a secondhand BMW 330e plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), which claims a maximum fuel economy of 200 miles per gallon, and emits only 32g of CO2 per km, according to its official rating. It cost about £33,000.