London Mayor Ken Livingstone has generated a lot of controversy with his plans to revamp the London congestion charge. He wants to replace the flat fee for being able to drive into central London with a sliding scale based on vehicle emissions. Cars emitting less than 120g/km of CO2 would pay nothing while thirstier machines would pay as much as £25 per day.

Needless to say, the remains of the British auto industry are not thrilled by Livingstone's plan. The plan is obviously far more complicated to implement than a flat fee that everyone pays and may end up doing nothing to reduce congestion or emissions. If a lot of people do end up buying low-emitting vehicles, the number of vehicles on the road in London could end up increasing. As for emissions, even Transport for London estimates savings of only 8,100 tonnes of CO2 out of a total of 9.7 million tonnes from ground transportation in London. Reductions in emissions from vehicle manufacturing plants in the UK have cut emissions 780,000 tonnes annually over the last four years. The Society of Motor Manufacturer and Traders wants to extend the comment period on the proposal to try and improve the plan.

[Source: Society of Motor Manufacturer and Traders ]