DRIVERS of gas-guzzling cars may have to pay £25 a day to enter London’s enlarged congestion charge zone, under plans by Ken Livingstone to tackle climate change.

The Mayor of London is proposing an emissions-based congestion charge fee that will penalise drivers of the highest-polluting vehicles, including many 4x4s and luxury saloons.

The new £25 rate would apply to cars rated in band G for vehicle excise duty, which covers those emitting more than 225g of carbon dioxide per kilometre.

Mr Livingstone intends to introduce the new levy in 2009 or 2010, but has asked his transport authority, Transport for London, to see if it could begin earlier. It may require a change in his official transport strategy, which is a lengthy process.

TfL plans to hold a public consultation on the scheme, starting in the spring.

Small cars in bands A or B, which emit 120g of CO2 per km or less, will be exempt. The exemptions will be easier for Mr Livingstone to introduce and he said that they are likely to start in 2008.

Several small diesel models that are currently liable for the £8 charge would be exempt. They include some models of the Fiat Panda, the Citroën C1 and C2 and the Renault Clio.

Mr Livingstone intends to abolish the existing blanket exemption for hybrid and LPG-powered vehicles and replace it with one based only on CO2 emissions rather than any specific technology. This would mean the Toyota Prius, which emits 104g/km, would continue to be exempt but the Lexus RX hybrid, at 192g/km, would not.

Under the proposals outlined by Mr Livingstone yesterday, there would be no change in the charge for vehicles in bands C, D, E, F. This means a band F car which emitted 225g/km would pay £8 but one that emitted 226g/km would pay £25. TfL was unable to explain why Mr Livingstone was not considering a graduated scheme, with a rising scale of charges.

Mr Livingstone claimed that almost a fifth of cars that paid to enter the zone each day were in band G, giving Central London the highest concentration of gas-guzzling vehicles in the country.

Mr Livingstone said: “Most vehicles that will be charged £25 are high-priced models. Those who buy them can afford to choose from pretty much the whole of the mainstream car market, but have chosen to buy one of the most polluting vehicles. By making these changes to the congestion charging scheme we are encouraging people to take into account the impact of their choice of new car on the environment and the planet.”

Owners of fuel-inefficient cars in Richmond upon Thames, southwest London, are already facing a tripling in the cost of parking permits to £300, under proposals put forward by the local council.

TfL said it hoped that announcing the plans now would give people plenty of time to change their vehicle for a more fuel-efficient one. A spokesman said that a big increase in the charge was needed to make people change.

The AA Motoring Trust said that the proposals would penalise drivers who needed larger vehicles. Paul Watters, the trust’s head of roads policy, said: “Adding hundreds of pounds on to the tax burden of large families and drivers who have good reason to be in these vehicles is quite simply unfair, particularly with the expansion of the congestion zone.”

WHO WILL PAY

Some of the cars that would pay £25 a day under the scheme and the amount of carbon dioxide they emit per kilometre

Vauxhall Vectra 2.8 V6 247g
Toyota Land Cruiser 242-305g
Renault Espace 2.0 Dynamique 232g
Porsche Cayenne 317-380g
Nissan X-Trail 2.5 226g
Mitsubishi Shogun 251-339g
Mercedes M-Class 275g
Mercedes SL 276-362g
Land Rover Discovery 249-354g
Jaguar X-Type 2.5 234g
Ford Mondeo 2.5 V6 244g
BMW X5 229-324g

Owners of these cars will not have to pay

Diesel
Citroen C1 109g
Toyota Aygo 109g
Citroen C2 113g
Fiat Panda 114g
Vauxhall Corsa 115g
Smart Forfour 116g
Peugeot 206 116g
Renault Clio 117g
Audi A2 119g

Petrol
Vauxhall Corsa 115g
Smart Roadster 116g
Daihatsu Sirion 118g