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!