Beware - London Congestion charge and Electric cars

marcusjames

Over Christmas I drove my electric car to London for an overnight stay. I checked the Transport for London website and confirmed that the BMW i3 is exempt from paying the congestion charge.


Today I received two penalty notices (£65 each) for the trip in and out of London.


Confused, I re-checked the CO2 ratings etc on the TfL website. It is then that I noticed the "small print" saying that electric cars are only exempt if the owner registers with TfL!! They are able to link to DVLA to get registration and address details but apparently not to determine the VED tax band on cars, or to determine if they are classed as Electric.


I am now £130 down after buying an electric car and driving into London in good faith. Obviously if I had known this additional information I would have either registered or paid the congestion charge. This is day-light robbery.


Thought I'd share the information in case some of you are not aware.

AnotherJoe

Thanks for the heads up, I thought it was all automatic ! Not that I have an electric car yet but it's on the plan.

Something I've read is that i3 with Rex are classed as hybrids not BEV and so not exempt in some locations where only electric get a free pass.

Stageshoot

Sorry to hear you got caught out by that, it has been that way ever since the congestion charge came in.

May be worth an appeal just to see if they are in a generous mood,

Also remember you can park in any of the pay and display bays in Westminster for up to the stated parking time (Normally 4 hours) and you dont need to pay. Or Register for that one.

And if you are planning at least one or 2 days a year in London its worth registering for the Congestion discount at £10 to register.

Another one worth registering for is the Milton Keynes Free Parking Scheme, park in the Town centre pay and display bays free. just have to register your plate on the council website no charge for the service.

Have fun and although it was an expensive lesson at least you have the great fun i3 to drive (We love ours)

Also you say it was over Christmas, Check the dates as Congestion Charge was suspended from Christmas Eve to 2nd Jan. And was not payable during that time

Car_54

marcusjames wrote: »

This is day-light robbery.

Electric light, surely?

Anyway, it's not hidden in the small print. The very first sentence under Discounts is:

"You can apply for a discount online, but you'll need to supply certain documents to show you're entitled to the discount."

bigadaj

You say over Christmas but there was no congestion charge between 23rd December and 3rd January.

takman

Let me guess the next thread from the OP will be that he has received a fine for non payment of Vehicle Tax from the DVLA even though his electric car has a tax rate of £0. He will then go on to say this caused him some confusion until he read the "small print" on the DVLA website where he saw that he still had to "register" the car.

AnotherJoe

Not a good analogy, the registration is done to tell the DVLA who owns the car, not that its an electric one, they know that already.

takman

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Not a good analogy, the registration is done to tell the DVLA who owns the car, not that its an electric one, they know that already.

It's nothing to do with telling them you have an electric car, I have an app on my phone that can tell me what fuel a car runs on by typing in the registration number. So they could make the system automatic if they wanted to, but they don't.

The system is that they want all people who are driving a car through the congestion charge to register on the website (no matter if your car has a zero rate). Just like all cars have to be registered with the DVLA no matter if your car has a zero rate.

AdrianC

marcusjames wrote: »

I checked the Transport for London website and confirmed that the BMW i3 is exempt from paying the congestion charge.

Today I received two penalty notices (£65 each) for the trip in and out of London.

Confused, I re-checked the CO2 ratings etc on the TfL website. It is then that I noticed the "small print" saying that electric cars are only exempt if the owner registers with TfL!

How and where did you check?

This page on TFL's website - the main "discounts and exemptions" page - is very clear about the fact you need to register, and how to register.
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge/discounts-and-exemptions

Even if you just googled "BMW i3 congestion charge", and read the page precis that pop up as a result, the fourth link is to an i3 forum thread explicitly mentioning about "pointless bureaucracy" in the precis. That, alone, should have had you reading further.

marcusjames

All


Thanks for the responses.


I know I should have been more diligent and probably more angry at myself for missing it. I googled if an I3 is exempt from paying the congestion charge and the following came back from TfL website:


All cars that emit more than 75g/km of CO2 must pay a congestion charge when driving in central London. Fully electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell cars are exempt from this charge, along with a number of efficient hybrids. Read on for our full list of cars that qualify to drive through London for free.31 Aug 2016


I did not feel the need to then search further. Live and learn I guess.

DoaM

You still haven't said the date(s) the penalties are relating to. As per posts above, there should not have been any congestion charge anyway - depending on dates.