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Owners of fuel-hungry cars will pay up to £6,000 a year to drive in Central London under the scheme by Ken Livingstone to convert the congestion charge into an emissions tax. Thousands of families with larger cars, such as people carriers, will be caught by the new £25 daily charge for vehicles that emit more than 225g of carbon dioxide per kilometre (writes Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent).

At least 15,000 owners of larger cars living inside the charging zone will lose their residents’ discount and their daily payment will rise by 3,000 per cent from 80p to £25.

Drivers of small, fuel-efficient cars in bands A and B for road tax will become exempt under the new scheme, which begins on October 27. Owners of cars powered by liquid petroleum gas and larger hybrids, such as the Lexus hybrid, will no longer be exempt after January 2010.

Owners of fuel-inefficient cars face a further penalty next month in the Budget, which is expected to include increases in the top rates of road tax.

The Mayor of London will raise an additional £30 to 50 million a year from the emissions-related charge on top of the £120 million profit last year. All of the profit will be reinvested in transport improvements.

Other cities in Britain and around the world will watch the progress of emissions-related charging closely but they are several years away from copying the idea.

Mr Livingstone said that the changes would send a signal to manufacturers to switch to making more low-emission cars and to buyers to think carefully when purchasing their next vehicle.

Mr Livingstone claimed that the changes were needed to help to tackle global warming. But a report on the impact of the scheme by Transport for London (TfL), the transport authority of the Mayor, found that the reduction in CO2 could be negligible.

TfL had claimed that em-issions-related charging would reduce CO2 emissions by 8,100 tonnes. Its new estimate, buried on page 146 of a report released yesterday, is that CO2 could be reduced by just 100 tonnes next year or 0.001 per cent of total annual emissions from surface transport in London. TfL now believes that in the best-case scenario the scheme will reduce emissions by a maximum of 5,000 tonnes or 0.05 per cent.

Part of the reason for lowering the estimate of the benefits is that sales of band A and B cars rose by 17 per cent to 128,000 last year and are continuing to rise. This means that thousands of drivers who would have to pay £8 to enter the zone will gain free access from October. Many of these may choose to switch to driving to work rather than taking public transport, thereby adding to overall emissions.

Mr Livingstone admitted that he might have to cancel the exemption for band B cars, which emit between 101g/km and 120g/km, if thousands more people start driving them into Central London. A TfL official said that drivers of band B cars might have to pay half the normal fee from 2010.

The Mayor had to be corrected by one of his officials at the announcement of the scheme yesterday after he twice stated that only 3,000 cars which will be liable for the £25 charge were currently being driven inside the zone each day. The official said that the correct figure was 33,000.

Mr Livingstone claimed that there would be little initial impact on congestion because the reduction would be matched by an increase in the number of vehicles that were exempt.

He said: “I have every sympathy with Scottish hill farmers who need 4X4s to get around. But there is no justification for cars which produce this amount of CO2 in Central London.”

He admitted that the crudeness of the charging system, with no graduation in the charging rates, meant that drivers of cars with almost identical emissions would pay different amounts. A driver of a car emitting 225g/km will pay £8 but the driver of a car producing 226g/km will pay £25.

A spokesman for London First, a business group, said: “Band A and B cars do not reduce CO2 , they add to it, and they add to congestion which drives up CO2 emissions from the vehicles stuck in the queue behind them. The Mayor’s policy on congestion is in tatters.”

Congestion inside the zone has risen since the initial improvement when the charge was introduced in 2003. Journeys in the morning peak now take longer than they did before charging began.

Sheila Rainger, the acting director for the RAC Foundation, said: “The congestion charge was originally developed to reduce congestion. Changing this will confuse the public and reduce support and trust for future initiatives.

“The discount for smaller vehicles may encourage a few families to purchase them as second cars but a small car isn’t a realistic choice for everyone.” Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the mayoral election in May, said: “This is an incredibly inefficient revenue-raising exercise which will have very little environmental benefit.

“If we’re serious about tackling pollution we should force manufacturers to meet new emissions targets and increase vehicle excise duty for big polluters.”

Boris Johnson, the Conservative candidate, said: “The Mayor has just given the green light for richer people to buy smaller cars and enter the zone for free while families who struggle with one big car are left feeling the pinch.”

The Environmental Transport Association, a breakdown company, questioned why the London black taxi would continue to be exempt from the charge when its emissions were just above the qualifying level for the £25 daily fee.

A spokesman said: “Londoners will be understandably confused by this switch from a congestion charge to an environmental tax, not least because those wealthy enough to afford gas-guzzling cars and wishing to side-step the new fee can simply take a TX4 London cab, which emits 226g/km.”

Despite a rise in the band A and B cars the emissions of the average new car are falling much too slowly to meet a European Commission target. The Liberal Democrats have revealed that if the efficiency improvement continues at the current rate, Britain will not meet the 2012 target of 130g/ km for new cars until 2024.

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, said: “Targets are meaningless unless action is taken to meet them.”

Cars which will pay £25
Band G which emit more than 225g/km of CO2 and band F cars with engines over 3 litres which were registered before 2001

Most large 4x4s, many executive and sports cars including: 4.2litre Range Rover Jeep Cherokee 4.8litre BMW X5 Some Renault Espace models

Exempt cars Bands A and B which emit 120g/km or less. Examples:

Peugeot 1.0litre 107
Renault 1.5litre diesel Clio
VW Polo 1.4litre diesel
Toyota Prius hybrid

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