hawk20
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1. Mayor Livingstone has announced that there will be a £25 congestion charge in London on 'gas-guzzlers' from 2009, while the standard charge will be £8.
2. BUT NOTE it is levied only on cars in the highest CO2 emissions band which is band G.
3. NOTE TOO, that there were no CO2 emissions figures given for cars prior to March 1st, 2001 so cars registered prior to that date are exempt from the higher congestion charge WHATEVER THEIR ENGINE SIZE.
4. The exemption for larger-engined cars registered prior to March 1st, 2001 has been widely reported but less well-known is the fact that BAND G DOES NOT EXIST FOR CARS REGISTERED BEFORE MARCH 23rd 2006. Therefore, cars with high emissions (226 or more) registered before March 23rd 2006 will not pay the higher congestion charge, while those registered after that date will pay it.
Some will question whether this is an anomaly, but on reflection it is not. The Chancellor, when introducing band G saw no point in clobbering owners of large cars that had already been bought. The aim was to affect future choices -cars bought after the 2006 budget. That was sensible in my view.
The likely affects of the congestion charge, and the fact that the same basis will be used for road tolls, will be to
a) harm sales of cars with emissions of 226 or more (petrol engines from about 2 litres upwards can be caught by this),
b) help the sales of diesels (for example, even the S320cdi comes in below the new band G)
c) harden prices of pre March 2001 cars with larger engines (but obviously not increase their numbers as they are already in existence).
and d) harden prices of second-hand larger engined cars registered before March 23rd 2006.
As Autocar have pointed out, http://www.autocar.co.uk/news_article.asp?na_id=223038
the higher congestion charge on band G vehicles "means, for example, that the driver of a Renault Espace 2.0T (232g/km) would pay £25 to drive into central London, while the driver of an Espace 2.2dCi (211g/km) would pay £8. This is despite both vehicles being the same physical size, and therefore causing the same amount of congestion.
London residents who live within the scheme – who currently qualify for a 90 per cent discount – will no longer get any discount if their car is in Band G.
Meanwhile, in 2008 the charge for the least-polluting vehicles – those in Band A and B, which produce less than 120g/km – will be removed".
The DVLA website gives information on emissions by make and model of car and lots of other useful information too.
I find it hard to believe that even the well-off will want to crawl into London at £25 per day at an average speed of 10-12 miles per hour. This could well have a really serious effect on the sales of new larger petrol-engined cars, especially if the government goes ahead with rumoured plans to charge higher tolls on band G cars once road pricing comes to clobber the motorist even further.
2. BUT NOTE it is levied only on cars in the highest CO2 emissions band which is band G.
3. NOTE TOO, that there were no CO2 emissions figures given for cars prior to March 1st, 2001 so cars registered prior to that date are exempt from the higher congestion charge WHATEVER THEIR ENGINE SIZE.
4. The exemption for larger-engined cars registered prior to March 1st, 2001 has been widely reported but less well-known is the fact that BAND G DOES NOT EXIST FOR CARS REGISTERED BEFORE MARCH 23rd 2006. Therefore, cars with high emissions (226 or more) registered before March 23rd 2006 will not pay the higher congestion charge, while those registered after that date will pay it.
Some will question whether this is an anomaly, but on reflection it is not. The Chancellor, when introducing band G saw no point in clobbering owners of large cars that had already been bought. The aim was to affect future choices -cars bought after the 2006 budget. That was sensible in my view.
The likely affects of the congestion charge, and the fact that the same basis will be used for road tolls, will be to
a) harm sales of cars with emissions of 226 or more (petrol engines from about 2 litres upwards can be caught by this),
b) help the sales of diesels (for example, even the S320cdi comes in below the new band G)
c) harden prices of pre March 2001 cars with larger engines (but obviously not increase their numbers as they are already in existence).
and d) harden prices of second-hand larger engined cars registered before March 23rd 2006.
As Autocar have pointed out, http://www.autocar.co.uk/news_article.asp?na_id=223038
the higher congestion charge on band G vehicles "means, for example, that the driver of a Renault Espace 2.0T (232g/km) would pay £25 to drive into central London, while the driver of an Espace 2.2dCi (211g/km) would pay £8. This is despite both vehicles being the same physical size, and therefore causing the same amount of congestion.
London residents who live within the scheme – who currently qualify for a 90 per cent discount – will no longer get any discount if their car is in Band G.
Meanwhile, in 2008 the charge for the least-polluting vehicles – those in Band A and B, which produce less than 120g/km – will be removed".
The DVLA website gives information on emissions by make and model of car and lots of other useful information too.
I find it hard to believe that even the well-off will want to crawl into London at £25 per day at an average speed of 10-12 miles per hour. This could well have a really serious effect on the sales of new larger petrol-engined cars, especially if the government goes ahead with rumoured plans to charge higher tolls on band G cars once road pricing comes to clobber the motorist even further.
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