8th of April, 2019 is a date motorist should not forget – the date when the new 24hr, 7 day a week ULEZ charge kicks in! If your vehicle does not meet the minimum Euro emission standards – (see our blog for the criteria), you will have to pay a fee of £12.50 a day. So what are your options?
Get a ULEZ compliant vehicle
It’s not as easy as it sounds, but one of the first options is to get rid of your current vehicle and purchase a ULEZ compliant one. Nearly all petrol vehicles produced since 2005 meet the ULEZ standards and vehicles which meet the equivalent of the Euro 4 NOx standard for petrol have been available to buy since 2001. There are many different avenues you can take for purchasing a vehicle, including using platforms such as Auto Trader and Car Giant. Before purchasing your vehicle, don’t forget to check if it is ULEZ compliant using our free ULEZ Checker.
| Something to bear in mind: Electric vehicle market is constantly growing and evolving. They emit no NOx or CO2 from the tailpipe (compared to 120 g/km for the average small petrol car). |
Use other modes of transport
This is probably not going to be a popular section, but for the sake of information we had to include it. If you’re feeling fit and healthy, walking or cycling are good options – the government are only going to further expand the cycle lanes/ cycle superhighway which will make it a lot easier to cycle.
Using public transport is another option, but an expensive one (unless used during off peak times). You have the hopper fare available, which allows you to use an unlimited number of buses and trams within an hour for £1.50 – which is super helpful! Or travelling off peak anywhere between zones 2-6 will cost you £1.50. Although all of these things can be helpful, but when you have to go to work or have other appointments, you are not able to take advantage of the off peak prices!
Join a car club
There are many car clubs out there, including Enterprise, Zipcar and Drivy. There are also other less known ones available, which works as a car sharing programme between people. These include, Drive Now, Easy Car and E-Car. To use a car club is very easy, you simply register and follow their east step by step guides, then take advantage of what they have to offer.
There can be benefits to using car clubs, including potentially saving some money. Carplus states, “car club members who drive less than 6-8,000 miles per year could save up to £3,500 a year when compared to owning a car”. And of course one of the main benefits is that the vehicles will be ULEZ compliant as TfL states, “All car club vehicles are expected to meet the ULEZ standards by April 2019 at the latest.”
Pay the daily ULEZ charge
The last option left is to actually pay the charge! Now if generally speaking you will not be entering the ULEZ zone much, this can work for you. However, if you will be entering once a week (for example), you are looking at paying £600 in a year – which is a lot of money for many of us!
| Don’t forget, from October 2021 the ULEZ will expand to the North and South Circular Roads. All cars within the expanded zone will need to meet the ULEZ emissions standards or pay a daily charge. |
We hope this blog with the different options is of help and stay tuned for more great content on the way!
5 Comments
Ian Johnson
10th January 2019
Why can there not be exemptions for classic cars? I have an E Class 220 Mercedes convertible 1995 model! I’ve checked and I’m not compliant, so I’m gonna have to pay for enjoying the pleasures I get from my car which I’ve had for nearly 20 years!
ULEZ Expert
23rd January 2019
From our research we have found that classic cars older than 40 years are exempt from the ULEZ charge. Sadly modern classics such as yours are not.
Jason
3rd April 2019
Absolutely ridiculous, i get the intention of ULEZ and yes it is a very lovely concept but in reality its just another charge to hit the small business owner in the pocket!
It goes hand in hand with the congestion charge, as a small business owner, 1 man band, i have a 2014 plate van, EURO5, although my van is very clean and serviced regularly and well maintained i am still outside of the ULEZ acceptance of EURO6….
There are 100’s of small 1 man band business people that enter London daily / weely / monthly to service the needs of the business’s in London for a reasonable price, now, that price is going to have to go up everytime i go to a job in London by over £20! How do you think that is going to affect my business? People are going to start looking elsewhere and using bigger more cash rich companies eventually driving the prices of services and goods up through the roof.
You already charge us and absolute fortune for parking and lets not forget the extra “diesel” charge as well oh and then there’s the pointless congestion charge (as the congestion has never been worse) It will no longer be viable for small business’s to come into London.
The people who thought up this charge may have had good intentions but they certainly didn’t consider the small business owner or the people who cannot to simply go out and buy a newer vehicle, i don’t think they realise it’s not just buying the vehicle, it’s the cost of signwriting it, racking it out or having specialist equipment installed.
Just another way for the government to make money.
Baotheactor
28th April 2019
This is ridiculous. My car was gifted to me from my parents. It’s now a 2003 C220 cdi. More of a sentimental car than a work horse. It does not comply with the new law, and all they want us to do is to basically scrap our cars to buy newer “compliant” ones. The law is becoming silly. You’re taking away peoples prized possessions, and you wonder why peoples depression rate is getting higher!
Mr MA Wilkinson
16th August 2019
The London mayor has stolen my car from me, I have a 1994 Audi cabriolet that does not comply to his rules, I did not vote for this man and he is stealing my car with a politicians smile on his face, it is always the well off people(THE MAYOR OF LONDON) that think it is within peoples means to just buy a new or second hand car with no problems to the household budget. I need an option other than throwing my car away. If I convert my car to gas and the emissions comply would it be allowed to travel inside the ULEZ zone? I work at Billingsgate fish market and start work at 2am there is no public services that can take me to work at that time are there going to be “special circumstances” for people who cannot just go out and buy a new car and for people working nights without any other means of getting to work?