Electric vehicle drivers get some not-so-good news in London
Danny (of Danny's Contentment) is just the messenger here, so don't go hounding him if you're angry about the bad news that Transport for London announced today. While some automakers will probably be pleased with the change, electric car proponents like Danny see this as a potential nail in the EV coffin.Here's the deal:
The updated rules don't give electric cars special status with regards to the London congestion charge. Instead, these vehicles are grouped into a low-CO2 vehicle category with all cars that "Produce less than 120g/km CO2 and meet the Euro 4 standard for air pollution emissions OR Produce no more than 120g/km of CO2, and appear on the PowerShift register." All of these cars will be exempt from the charges (rates vary between £8 and £25, depending on vehicle size and CO2 emissions).
Transport for London said that the goal of the Greater London (Central Zone) Congestion Charging is to:
- Encourage drivers within the charging zone to travel in vehicles which produce lower levels of carbon dioxide (CO2)
- Discourage the use of vehicles with high CO2 emissions
- The primary aim of Congestion Charging remains to tackle congestion and encourage drivers to shift from private vehicles to public transport, walking and cycling.
Related:
[Source: Transport for London]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Scatter 3:09PM (2/12/2008)
I don't see this as being a nail in any coffin for EVs at all. If anything, they've pulled one out.
The current situation is that vehicles on the Power Shift register get 100% discounts. This included EVs, hybrids and LPG conversions. There are 32 manufacturers on the Power Shift register.
There are only 14 manufacturers of Band A or B diesel / petrol cars. Options have been reduced so if anything the EV's situation has got a lot better.
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rgseidl 3:55PM (2/12/2008)
At the end of the day, this is still supposed to be a *congestion* charge. EVs may not emit any CO2 from their tailpipes (i.e. the pollution occurs elsewhere), but they still take up road space.
Personally, I expect zero-rating the charge for all vehicles in the A and B bands will eventually lead to increased congestion in Central London. A reduced fee, e.g. GBP 8 for two days instead of one, should still be imposed.
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Scatter 4:05PM (2/12/2008)
I'm still not convinced rafael. It's being reported today that 30,000 band G cars enter the zone each day compared with 3,000 band A and B cars (http://snipurl.com/bandg). Doubtless a lot of those band G owners can easily afford to pick up a second (third? fourth?) band B car but initially there could be a significant drop in congestion.
It'll be very interesting to see what happens over the next few months.
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Matt 6:35PM (2/12/2008)
Electric cars still get benefits - namely free parking in certain places (worth more than you save from not having to pay the charge!) and the fact that you aren't paying £1.10 a litre!
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