Congestion & Climate Change

The Mayor of London launches a consultation on higher charges for gas guzzlers.

The Mayor has announced that Transport for London will start a consultation on Friday 10th August 2007 on a scheme to charge the cars that make the biggest contribution to global warming - such as the so-called 'Chelsea tractors', some high powered sports cars and expensive luxury vehicles - up to £25 to drive in the present central London Congestion Charging Zone. The zone covers parts of Westminster, and Kensington and Chelsea.

Cars driving outside the present congestion charging zone will not be affected. Within the congestion charging zone, the highest CO2 emitting cars, which represent eight per cent of cars registered in London, would face the higher £25 charge and lose their entitlement to the residents' discount. Some of these produce two or three times as much greenhouse gases as the average family car.

The majority of drivers within the zone would be unaffected and the least polluting vehicles will receive a 100 per cent discount and not pay any congestion charge at all.

The new charges would be as follows:

Low-CO2 emitting cars - 100 per cent discount (£0). Includes cars in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) Bands A and B (less than 120g CO2 per km) which also meet Euro 4 air quality standard.

The majority of cars - VED Bands C, D, E and those in F with emissions up to 225g CO2 per km - will continue to pay exactly the same daily charge as at present - £8

The highest CO2 emitting cars - VED Band G and equivalent vehicles (above 225g CO2 per km), as well as those registered pre March 2001 with engines larger than 3,000 cc, will pay £25 a day.

Transport - excluding aviation - accounts for 22 per cent of London's CO2 emissions, with cars accounting for nearly half of this.

According to a poll conducted by MORI for the Mayor, 64 per cent of Londoners think the most polluting cars should pay a higher congestion charge.

The proposals are part of the Mayor's strategy to do everything possible to reduce pollution and London's contribution to climate change. The Mayor will keep an open mind on the proposals until he has considered the responses to the consultation. The consultation will end on 19th October.

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone says, "Londoners are becoming increasingly aware of the need to tackle climate change and this summer's floods were a reminder of the urgency with which we need to reduce C02 emissions. The highest CO2 emitting cars - like some of the so-called Chelsea tractors, high powered sports cars and luxury executive cars - can produce twice as much carbon dioxide emissions as the kind of car driven by the average Londoner. By proposing these changes to the congestion charging scheme we are encouraging people to take into account the impact on the environment of their choice of car.

"We are already cleaning up London's fleet of public vehicles through measures like the introduction of hybrid buses. These new proposals will tackle emissions from private vehicles, and ensure that London is leading the way in the fight against catastrophic climate change."

"Londoners will be sceptical about the motives for this significant change to congestion charging and many will fear this is already a done deal," says Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) chief executive Christopher Macgowan. "However, we will push for a re-think on these totally disproportionate proposals. A family whose car emits one g/km more than their neighbour's could end up paying thousands of pounds more a year. That can't be right."

Ironically, owners of some early versions of low-CO2 hybrids can expect to start paying £8 a day too. That's because only cars with the latest Euro 4-compliant engines will qualify under new exemption criteria.

Exemption criteria will become technology neutral. In other words, regardless of powertrain type, cars emitting less than 120g/km, including petrol and diesel models, will pay nothing to enter the zone.

Manufacturers investing in high blend bio-ethanol (E85) cars will be disappointed that TfL is not considering them for congestion charge exemptions. Tailpipe CO2 emissions are similar to petrol equivalents. However, recent studies at Imperial College demonstrate significant well-to-wheel CO2 benefits of E85 compliant cars - 41 per cent in the case of a Ford Focus FFV2 - when CO2 absorption by crops grown to make bio-ethanol is factored in.

"The emissions of most private cars driven in central London fall below the highest proposed emissions-based congestion charge level , so it is questionable if the proposed plan will achieve its aim of further reducing central London traffic levels," says Alec Murray, non-executive chairman of the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMIF).

"Conversely more and more new vehicles now on sale would be eligible for a congestion charge waiver under the new proposals since their emissions are lower than the limit being suggested, making the new system a poor way to cut down on overall traffic numbers."

The proposed measures ignore the environmental impact of London's taxis and buses, currently exempt from the congestion charge. According to Murray, many of London's 22,000 strong-black cab fleet is old, and these emit far more harmful particulates than a comparable saloon car. There are also 44,000 minicabs, and 8,000 buses, most running on diesel, producing 200,000 tonnes of carbon per year.

He says, "The existing system is far from ideal, but at least all vehicles are affected equally."

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