Mazda thinks London congestion charge could help sales of small diesels
The proposed changes to the London congestion charge that would change it from a fixed charge to one based on emissions could prove a boon to small diesel engined cars, and Mazda like that possibility. Mazda had been projecting that only ten percent of buyers for the new Mazda2 would select the 1.4L diesel. However if the new changes occur, cars that emit less than 120g/km of CO2 would be exempt from the charges while bigger, thirstier machines could end up paying as much as £25 per day (up from the current fee of £8 per day). So far, aside from some electric "quadricycles" like the Reva G-Wiz, only small diesel cars like the Smart ForTwo, and VW Polo BlueMotion meet that standard. The new Mazda2 would also meet the threshold.
[Source: What Car]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rgseidl 3:58PM (10/17/2007)
This is a good example of how the road to hell is paved with good intentions. London mayor Ken Livingstone is using the congestion charge to advance a climate agenda. The result will actually be more congestion, because people who currently use public transport or ridesharing will revert back to driving their own car - even if it is small. Afaik, there are no plans to increase the number of parking spaces in central London or even to guide motorists toward parking structures that still have free spaces.
Cars stuck in traffic consume a lot more fuel than they do in the standardized NEDC drive cycle. This is true even if they have stop-start systems like a number of qualifying Citroen diesel models do, because you're still accelerating a lot and dissipating the kinetic energy in the brakes.
Diesel engines are inherently heavier than gasoline variants of the same power rating. That means the block takes longer to heat up. Using a diesel vehicle as a personal city runabaout is generally counter-productive in CO2 terms because the distances traveled are typically short and the speeds low (does not apply to commercial delivery vehicles and taxis). In Europe, diesels are also still allowed to emit more PM and NOx than gasoline-powered cars and, all ICEs emit more toxins when the block is still cold.
A more sensible policy would therefore favor spark ignition hybrids and BEVs over diesels for urban runabouts. Diesels do make perfect sense for people that rack up high annual mileages at freeway speeds.
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rgseidl 3:58PM (10/17/2007)
This is a good example of how the road to hell is paved with good intentions. London mayor Ken Livingstone is using the congestion charge to advance a climate agenda. The result will actually be more congestion, because people who currently use public transport or ridesharing will revert back to driving their own car - even if it is small. Afaik, there are no plans to increase the number of parking spaces in central London or even to guide motorists toward parking structures that still have free spaces.
Cars stuck in traffic consume a lot more fuel than they do in the standardized NEDC drive cycle. This is true even if they have stop-start systems like a number of qualifying Citroen diesel models do, because you're still accelerating a lot and dissipating the kinetic energy in the brakes.
Diesel engines are inherently heavier than gasoline variants of the same power rating. That means the block takes longer to heat up. Using a diesel vehicle as a personal city runabaout is generally counter-productive in CO2 terms because the distances traveled are typically short and the speeds low (does not apply to commercial delivery vehicles and taxis). In Europe, diesels are also still allowed to emit more PM and NOx than gasoline-powered cars and, all ICEs emit more toxins when the block is still cold.
A more sensible policy would therefore favor spark ignition hybrids and BEVs over diesels for urban runabouts. Diesels do make perfect sense for people that rack up high annual mileages at freeway speeds.
Reply
Bill 4:48PM (10/17/2007)
VW's still saying 40s for city mileage with the new DSG Jetta diesel they'll be selling in the U.S. next spring.
That mileage sounds fine for a city "runabout" to me!
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Scatter 5:07PM (10/17/2007)
There are a few more vehicles that will qualify for the discount than your article suggests Sam:
http://snipurl.com/bandsaandb
Rafael I think you're exaggerating a little bit. One of the reasons why there won't be any expansion of parking facilities is to limit the number of cars brought into the c-zone. The other reason is there isn't any space in London for more parking.
TfL are doing some fairly intensive modelling of what the effects of this change will be and the limits are not yet set in stone. It would be desirable for simplicity's sake to fit it to the VED bandings (i.e. 120g or less) but there's some quite strong lobbying going on pushing for 110g/km to avoid some of the effects you suggest.
I'd favour 110g/km and then maybe annual decreases of 2g/km per year after the first five years - it'd keep the manufacturers on their toes!
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Dr. Kenneth Noisewater 12:57AM (10/18/2007)
Are motorbikes still exempt?
If I ever get back to London for any length of time, it's a bike for me...
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Keith Johnston 4:13AM (10/18/2007)
The strategy of encouraging low carbon motoring is broadly sound. The problem lies in making no differentiation between emission free, ultra low carbon vehicles such as the G-Wiz, and lower carbon cars such as the VW Polo Blue Motion, which still pump out 99 Gms CO2 / km. As with vehicle excise duty, there should be a graduated response, with Band B receiving a discount but not exemption.
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