Latest London congestion-charge already with two thousand registers

Almost two thousand cars have been registered to travel free across London since the latest revision to the controversial congestion-charge levy was introduced last January. The Greener Vehicle Discount scheme permits drivers of low-emissions cars to avoid the £10-per-day fee imposed on other vehicles.

To qualify for the discount, cars must be Euro-5 emissions regulation compliant and emit less than 100g/km of CO2 in the EU economy cycle. These regulations generally favour small, diesel-engined cars such as the Citroen DS3 99g/km, VW Polo Bluemotion and Kia Rio Ecodynamics – and, as diesel continues to increase in popularity in the UK, it seems likely that the number of eligible cars will swell in coming months.

Meanwhile, the outgoing system for greener cars – Alternative Fuel Discount – has recently closed to new registrations; although the 28,000 cars currently on the scheme will remain exempt from the congestion charge for the next two years. Following this, owner will have to re-register their vehicles under the new scheme or begin paying the congestion charge.

The old system allowed all alternative fuel vehicles, including LPG, CNG and hybrid vehicles, to pass through the British capital for free – regardless of their emissions. Many believed this to be unfair, as many such vehicles released greater emissions than smaller diesel cars, leading to the reform of the exemption system on January 4th 2011.

On the same day, the congestion charge was increased to £10 a day, whilst an Auto-Pay system was also introduced to make fee-paying easier for drivers. It is expected that the reforms to the exemption system will lead to an increase in the number of vehicles registered to travel through central London charge-free, due to many manufacturers’ increased production of suitable cars in recent years.