What's the future for diesel cars in London?

Rob Adams assesses the state of diesel car ownership today.
Rob Adams8 May 2017

No longer is the government doing everything it can to steer us into diesel cars. They may well emit 20% less CO2 and give 20% better fuel economy, but they are also judged to be partly guilty for the rise in city centre NOx emissions. Hence, extra charges for owners of the oldest and highest-polluting oil burners.

This will come as a nasty surprise to owners of more than 10 million diesel cars on British roads: benefits such as cheaper road tax and lower company car tax mean even today, almost half the new cars registered are diesels. The European Commission is suing the government for breaking air pollution limits, and it’s responding by targeting diesel cars.

Is this fair? Well, diesels do admittedly produce more NOx and particulates than petrol cars. However, since 1992, emissions limits have been tightened up; diesels faced ultra-tough standards from January 2011, where the NOx limit was reduced to a tiny 0.18g/km. To achieve this, many models had to be fitted with diesel particulate filters, or DPFs, which cleansed exhaust gases of virtually all particulates.

Diesel and petrol cars could be a thing of the past by 2040

Today’s Euro 6 diesels are cleaner still. The NOx emissions limit is just 0.08g/km, meaning a brand-new diesel emits little more NOx than a comparable petrol car. By rights, if you own a modern diesel, you should have nothing to worry about. It’s the older models that the government and cities are going after.

In London, owners of diesels registered before 2006 – those that do not meet Euro 4 emissions standards – will have to fork out £10 for the new Toxicity Charge, or T-Charge, which comes into force on 23 October 2017. This is a charge on top of the regular Congestion Charge, and applies in the same area. Unlike the Congestion Charge, though, the T-Charge applies 24 hours a day, all year round.

London is going further in April 2019. The new Ultra Low Emission Zone, or ULEZ, will replace the T-Charge: here, those who own a car that doesn’t meet Euro 6 emissions standards will have to pay £12.50 a day to drive in the city. Petrol cars registered before 2006 will also be included, but it’s much tougher on diesels: only those registered after September 2015 will escape the charge.

And where London leads…

Because this is going to affect so many diesel car owners, the government is widely predicted to roll out some form of diesel car scrappage scheme. There have been no details announced on this yet, but if it comes, it’s likely to focus on getting the oldest diesels off the road and their owners into the greenest, cleanest brand new cars. Watch this space.

The UK new car tax system has already changed, and any scrappage scheme will probably be geared around it. No longer are sub-99g/km CO2 cars free from road tax: from 1 April 2017, every car emitting more than 50g/km CO2 is charged a flat-rate fee of £140. Only zero-emissions cars have zero road tax; the charge is £10 for those emitting between 1-50g/km CO2.

It’s a very confusing system that includes additional charges for cars costing £40,000 or more. But it doesn’t affect cars already registered. If you’re buying a used diesel car that was registered before 1 April 2017, you’ll still enjoy free road tax.

The threat of further charges remains likely, though – other European countries also run low emissions zones so the government will not be alone in doing this. The fuel economy gains and associated low running costs of diesel cars will still be attractive, but be aware that if you own an older model, there may well be additional unexpected charges waiting in store. Be sure to do your homework.

Follow Evening Standard Motors on Twitter and Facebook.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in