MSE News: Drivers of older cars in central London to pay £24-a-day fee

Former_MSE_Steve_1

Owners of the most polluting cars will have to shell out up to £24 a day to drive in central London from 2019, under plans unveiled by Mayor Sadiq Khan. ...

Read the full story:
'Drivers of older cars in central London to pay £24-a-day fee - what new anti-pollution charges mean for you'

Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. If you aren’t sure how it all works, read our New to Forum? Intro Guide.

Pincher

They are going to have to make exceptions for ambulances, fire trucks, rubbish dumpsters etc. Lots of buses are diesel still.

TESCO Neasden used to have cheap petrol, about 2~3p cheaper per gallon, and there were queue jumpers and bloody noses. Lets see all these Nissan Leaf drivers kill each other for the chance to charge up so they can get home.

Tesla drivers probably think they have less competition for charging points. We shall see.


Scratchwood services on the M1 could become a major Park and Ride. It's already a collection point for long distance tour buses, but National Express, Megabus etc. will have to drop the passengers off so they don't enter the North Circular, who then proceed to Victoria by electric vehicles.

An interesting possibility is the Brent Cross Thameslink mainline station, in the future. It's actually at M1 Junction 1, so rather good for onward journey into central London.

motorguy

Pincher wrote: »

Lets see all these Nissan Leaf drivers kill each other for the chance to charge up so they can get home.

Tesla drivers probably think they have less competition for charging points. We shall see.

?

Why?

"The charge will mainly affect drivers of older cars - typically diesel vehicles that will be more than four years old in 2019, and petrol vehicles that will be more than 13 years old. "

So you'll still be able to drive a diesel (under 4 years old), and a petrol car (under 13 years old)

redux

We can see just how sincere they are in their wish to cut pollution there.

90% discount or free to residents until 2022? No charge for taxis?

They are there all the time, causing most of the pollution, but they want to shift blame and sanction the visitors instead of looking at themselves.

I've driven into or across London 9 times in 30 years. The only time I paid the congestion charge was a mistake; when I looked at the map a few days later it turned out I'd driven along the edge without entering. How much pollution will they save by booting me out?

Charge the residents £10 a day, see how many dump their cars, and then increase public transport.

And make sure public transport is also obliged to clean up its emissions.

Pincher

motorguy wrote: »

Why?

So you'll still be able to drive a diesel (under 4 years old), and a petrol car (under 13 years old)

You seem to be saying that nobody will change their car, and everything carries on like nothing has happened.

I saw all this coming, and changed from a 1.5L diesel to a petrol four years ago. March 2013. In April 2016, I got a petrol electric hybrid.

I can see the wailing of gnashing of teeth coming, because I already get resentment because the pure electric owners believe I shouldn't be using "their" charging points, because I can carry on with petrol. When it's one charging point and three pure electric cars, that argument won't work: expect really creative excuses:

I really need to pick up my child from school.

I have a hospital appointment.

Before it gets physical.

patman99

The whole thing is farcical. It is base on the age of the vehicle, not the engine.
So, I could buy a 3-year-old Mitsubushi Warrior with a brocken engine, fit one from a 10 year old model and drive it around London without paying the £24 a day they would be charging for the original vehicle.

Pincher

They want to charge lots more cars, I'm sure.
It's just the thin end of the wedge.
The screw will keep turning.

People don't have to go into big cities.
Live free, stay in the wilderness, forage for berries.
Drive your diesels to your heart's content.

Johnmcl7

patman99 wrote: »

The whole thing is farcical. It is base on the age of the vehicle, not the engine.
So, I could buy a 3-year-old Mitsubushi Warrior with a brocken engine, fit one from a 10 year old model and drive it around London without paying the £24 a day they would be charging for the original vehicle.

It's not based on age, it's based on the emissions category the vehicle was originally certified against and more specifically against the the categories with tighter Nitrous Oxide limits hence the older EU4 limit for petrols and the tighter EU6 limit for diesels which makes sense. It is farcical though to suggest it's a problem that people could buy new cars and fit old engines, aside from the many difficulties in doing so it's hardly going to be a widespread problem.

John

stator

Very surprised but my 2001 petrol 1.4 engine seems to meet the standards of Euro 4. Not that I visit London, so it doesn't matter. But they could roll this out to my city

NBLondon

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

It's not based on age, it's based on the emissions category the vehicle was originally certified against

It is farcical though to suggest it's a problem that people could buy new cars and fit old engines, aside from the many difficulties in doing so it's hardly going to be a widespread problem.

Someone who knows better can correct me - but wouldn't this be picked up at the first MoT test? The emissions from the older engine would likely not meet the specs for the model the V5 was registered as? Come to think of it - if you replace the engine with something other than a direct equivalent - would that have to be declared as a modification on the V5 and possibly change the category anyway?

andrewf75

Very much in favour of reducing pollution and restricting driving in cities generally, but this scheme doesn't seem well thought out.