Ken Livingstone’s war on drivers hots up

The mayor of London is to sting motorists with a £25 congestion charge, but they are fighting back.

Motoring organisations, residents, car companies and local businesses last week joined forces to condemn Ken Livingstone’s plans to link the London congestion charge to carbon dioxide (CO2 some now threatening to challenge the mayor’s “harebrained” scheme in court.

Livingstone’s latest manoeuvre in his war on motorists is a daily charge of £25 for cars with emissions over 225g/km (road tax band G), which would mean drivers entering the zone every working day facing an annual bill of about £6,000. Motoring groups have branded the move “totally disproportionate” and Porsche, the German car maker, which has just two models – the entry-level Boxster and the Cayman – that fall below the band G cutoff, said it was considering taking the mayor to a judicial review to challenge the plans.

“We are assessing our situation at the moment,” said Andrew Davis, a spokesman for Porsche in the UK. “We will be looking at everything, to make sure we check every area where it could be challenged. We think the proposals are disproportionate and unfair and will have a very limited effect on the environment.”

Kensington and Chelsea borough council may also mount a counterattack and has been seeking guidance from lawyers in recent weeks, pending Livingstone’s announcement, which came – long overdue – on Tuesday. Legal experts claim a judicial review could be brought if it were possible to show that the mayor had not followed proper procedure, had exceeded his powers, that the consultation process was insufficient or the plans were irrational or disproportionate.

The Sunday Times broke the story of Livingstone’s plans for an emissions-based charge in August last year and, presuming the mayor is reelected in May, the changes will now come into force on October 27. Residents in the zone will be hardest hit – those with band G cars will lose their 90% discount and have to pay £25 every working day if they want to use their car. The AA described the move as “grossly unfair, harebrained and totally ineffective”, while the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders claimed the £25 charge “will not significantly cut CO2 Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley and Rolls-Royce will find their entire lineups subject to the £25 charge. But it will hit not just drivers of sports cars and luxury SUVs but also families with people carriers such as versions of the Renault Grand Espace and Ford Galaxy and some saloons. Those with pre1998 cars with engines of more than 3000cc will also pay £25.

However, some manufacturers, such as – surprisingly – BMW, are choosing to put a positive spin on the changes. Contrary to expectations, Livingstone has chosen to make all cars in road tax bands A and B (with emissions up to 120g/km) exempt from the congestion charge, while those in bands C-F will continue to pay £8 a day. This will allow thousands of conventional petrol and diesel cars to enter central London for free for the first time since the charge was introduced five years ago.

At the same time electric, LPG, petrol-electric hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles, which are exempt under current rules, will be judged on their emissions. This means that some, such as the Lexus RX 400h, which is a petrol-electric hybrid but still produces 192g/km (band F), will be subject to the £8 charge. Livingstone says this move will be phased in: owners who register such cars with Transport for London (the mayor’s transport body) before October 27 will then be exempt from the charge until January 11, 2010.

Cars that qualify for an exemption under new rules for band A and B include the BMW 1-series diesel, the Citroën C1 and diesel versions of the C2, the Toyota Aygo and diesel versions of the Yaris, the Peugeot 107 and Peugeot 206 diesel, diesel versions of the Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus, the Vauxhall Corsa diesel, the Toyota Prius hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid and Smart Fortwo.

Switching to a super-economical hatch may save you money, but it is unlikely to get you anywhere fast. Recent figures show average traffic speeds in central London are now lower than before the congestion charge was introduced in February 2003. And with hundreds of cars set to be given free access to the city there are fears the jams will get worse.

Jay Nagley of Cleangreencars.co.uk, a website that provides information on greener motoring, claims 10% of cars sold in the UK will be congestion charge exempt by the end of the year. “The 120g/km exemption is too easy to achieve and risks increasing overall levels in London,” said Nagley. CO2 Goingreen, which sells the Reva G-Wiz electric car in Britain, is facing a bleak future as Londoners no longer need to go electric to qualify for an exemption. “It messes up a lot of the work to promote green vehicles,” said Keith Johnston, director of Goingreen. “There is a huge difference between a car that emits 120g/km of CO2 and something like the G-Wiz, which emits the equivalent of 60g/km. This is going to increase congestion and increase total emissions.”

Emma Smith, Sunday Times, Feb 17th 2008