Ministers are studying a new road pricing scheme which could give motorists up to 5,000 miles of free driving.
The plan is to plug the expected £30billion hole in Treasury finances from lost fuel duty as more electric cars take to the roads.
Low users would pay nothing and the money would be made up by those who travel most by paying 16p a mile once their free allowance has run out..
A report from the Social Market Foundation think tank estimates the poorest 20% of car owners who drive least are likely to be £40 a year better off under this scheme.
And it recommends road charging is introduced now to tackle the cost of living crisis.
Report author Scott Orfe said: “Fuel duty hits low-income people hardest.
“Road-pricing would take some of that burden away from those least able to pay it.”
And former Transport Secretary Lord George Young added: “The shift towards EVs raises a question about the future of fuel duty.
“Successive administrations have looked at road pricing then done nothing because they believe the public will not accept the change.”
Yet SMF polling shows 38% of voters now support road pricing while 26% are opposed.
And the SMF estimates the change would mean 630 million fewer miles driven on Britain’s roads a year helping the environment.
But congestion charging would still have to be used to unblock towns and cities.
The simplest way to record miles travelled would be on the dashboard milometer which could either be checked annually or by using an app for more frequent payments.
The SMF says Transport Secretary Grant Shapps should now bring in an independent Road Pricing Commission to recommend next steps and set future mileage rates annually.
Earlier this year the Commons Transport Committee said the Government should begin working on road-pricing “without delay.”
