More than 19,000 drivers of low-CO2 cars could lose their exemption from the London Congestion Charge.
Transport for London (TfL) has revealed plans to abolish the Greener Vehicle Discount which allows cars with CO2 emissions of less than 100g/km to travel into the centre of the capital for free.
The Greener Vehicle Discount will be replaced by a new Ultra Low Emission Discount, which will apply only to cars producing less than 75g/km of CO2.
TfL has cited the increase in the number of low emissions cars entering London as the reason for the change, saying: "The number of vehicles able to meet the Greener Vehicle Discount criteria is constantly growing, and without a tightening of the emissions criteria, there could be a significant increase in the numbers of vehicles within the Congestion Charging zone."
Drivers of cars which produce between 75g/km and 100g/km of CO2, such as the VW up! (shown above) will be required to pay the Congestion Charge by 2015.
There are only eight cars in current production which would be exempt from the charge under the new plans: the Citroen C-Zero, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, the Nissan LEAF, the Peugeot iOn, the Renault Twizy, the Renault Fluence Z.E., the Chevrolet Volt and the Vauxhall Ampera.
The proposals are likely to annoy any London residents who have recently splashed out on a VW up! (98g/km CO2) or a Lexus CT 200h (94g/km CO2).
However, there is some good news -- motorists currently entitled to the Greener Vehicle Discount will be exempt from the C-Charge until 2015.
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