London Congestion Charge

London Mayor Boris Johnson has proposed changes to the Congestion Charge.

Good news for drivers is that the Western Extension zone would be abolished, effective from 24 December 2010.


Perhaps not so good is the cost of driving in the remaining Congestion Charge area, which is set to increase. Currently the daily fee is £8 if paid in advance or on the day, or £10 if paid the day after, but both these amounts would increase by £2 under the Mayor’s plans.

To help those who make a habit of forgetting to pay the charge (and consequently earn themselves Penalty Charge Notices, i.e. fines), they’ll be able to register with a proposed new Congestion Charging Auto Pay scheme. Basically it does as the name implies - register a credit or debit card, and it’ll automatically be billed each time the Congestion Charge zone is entered. Under the system the daily charge is reduced to £9, but users will have to pay £10 annually to participate.

A major change that’s being planned - and one which will be important to anyone thinking of buying a car to use in central London - is the scrapping of the Alternative Fuel Discount (AFD), which meant that any vehicle not powered solely by petrol or diesel qualified for a 100% discount on the Congestion Charge.

In its place will be the Greener Vehicle Discount (GVD). This makes sense, since under GVD rules any vehicles (including non-hybrids) that emit 100 g/km or less of CO2 and are Euro 5 compliant will now be eligible for the 100% discount, subject to a £10 annual registration fee.

Cars qualifying for the GVD would include:

  • Audi A3 1.6 TDI 105 Stop Start
  • Citroen C3 1.6 HDi 90 Airdream
  • Citroen DS3 1.6 HDi 90 Dstyle
  • Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCI Econetic
  • Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi 109 Econetic
  • Peugeot 207 1.6 HDi 90 Economiqe
  • Smart Fortwo 0.8 CDI cabrio and coupe
  • SEAT Ibiza 1.4 TDCi Ecomotive
  • SEAT Leon 1.6 TDI 105 Ecomotive
  • Skoda Fabia Greenline
  • Toyota Auris 1.8 VVT-I HSD
  • Toyota Prius
  • Toyota iQ
  • Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 CTDi ecoFLEX
  • Volkswagen Polo 1.2 TDI BlueMotion
  • Volkswagen Golf 1.6 TDI 105 BlueMotion
  • Volvo C30 1.6D DRIVe

However, cars currently eligible for the AFD that wouldn’t meet GVD criteria (and therefore would have to pay the full Congestion Charge) are:

  • Honda Civic Hybrid saloon (109 g/km CO2)
  • Honda CR-Z (117 g/km CO2)
  • Honda Insight (101 g/km CO2)
  • Lexus GS 450h (179 g/km CO2)
  • Lexus LS 600h (218 g/km CO2)
  • Lexus RX 450h (148 g/km CO2)

It was a mockery of the AFD that those Lexus models ever qualified. Nevertheless, as a concession to owners of vehicles no longer exempt if the GVD is introduced, the 100% discount will continue for two years until 24 December 2012, provided the car is registered under the AFD scheme before 24 December 2010.

Finally, the current 100% discount for fully electrically propelled vehicles would continue, with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles also being included in this discount category for the first time.

The proposed changes are in the consultation phase at the moment. Anyone with any views on them has to let Transport for London know by 2 August 2010.

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