London mayor, Boris Johnson has proposed to make all vehicles that emit under 100g/km of CO2 exempt from the city’s congestion charge.
The new proposal comes as the mayor’s office launch the final stage public consultation over a number of changes designed to reform the charge. Other suggestions include plans to scrap the western extension and plans to increase price of driving into central London from £8 to £10-a-day from January 2011.
The new Greener Vehicle Discount is designed to be ‘technology neutral’ after a campaign led by Volvo pressured for reform, accusing the current system of being ‘unfair’ (see story). Current exemption rules under the ‘Alternative Fuel Discount’ mean that only ‘alternatively fuelled’ cars are exempt from the charge, this includes hybrids, LPG and natural gas powered vehicles. This meant that some higher polluting hybrids such as Lexus’ range of large hybrids were exempt while greener conventionally-fuelled vehicles still had to pay, this included owners of Volvo’s own C30 DRIVe model which emits just 99g/km of CO2.
In a statement to the press, TfL said: ‘some benefits of the alternative fuels have been outpaced by technological developments in other vehicles. This means that some new vehicles that do not qualify for the Alternative Fuel Discount have better environmental performance than some vehicles that do qualify.’
It is now proposed that the Alternative Fuel Discount should be closed to new registrations on 24 December 2010. Owners of vehicles registered with Transport for London (TfL) before that date would continue to receive a 100 per cent discount for a two year period. The new Greener Vehicle Discount would then stand in its place, with owners of eligible vehicles needing to pay a £10 annual registration charge but thereafter would travel through the city without charge. The Mayor also intends on widening the eligibility criteria for the electric vehicle discount to include plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
The 10-week statutory consultation closes on Monday 2 August 2010. The Mayor will then make a decision on whether or not to go ahead with the proposals with or without modifications. Should the Mayor decide to proceed with the scheme changes, they would come into effect on Tuesday 4 January 2011.
