Currently, driving a zero-emissions vehicle in London means a discount on the congestion zones around the city.
Electric vehicle users currently pay £10 for a year’s exemption to the standard charge, but that’s all about to change.
TfL has now announced that from the very end of next year, electric vehicles will also be subject to paying the £15 daily fee when entering a London congestion zone.
Beginning on December 25, 2024, the zero-emissions vehicles won’t enjoy the discounts they qualified for previously.
Explaining their reasons, TfL said that the discount had initially been introduced back in 2021 in a bid to reduce the toxic emissions in the city; hoping that more drivers would make the switch to electric vehicles.
Now, the discount is set to end after what will mark over four years in place in a bid to “maintain the effectiveness of the congestion charge, which is in place to manage traffic and congestion in the heart of London”.
There are 112,318 cars and vans registered for the discount (with 15,782 of these being private hire vehicles), which will now be subject to the congestion charge standard fee.
The Federation of Small Businesses has criticised the move and said that the scheme needed to be extended in order to protect workers and businesses who heavily invested in electric transport.
Caroline Russell, who is the leader of The Green Party in the Greater London Assembly, said:
“If every Londoner drives an electric car we won’t tackle congestion, air pollution or the climate crisis.
“The best solution to any concerns about unfairness in changes like this is to move to smart, fair road user charging.”
December 24 will mark the last official day that electric vehicle users will be permitted to enjoy their discounted congestion fee, though, between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, there is a period of waived fees on Congestion Charges.
The first day zero-emission vehicle drivers need to pay the £15 charge is January 2, 2026.
