Sadiq Khan to impose congestion charge on electric vehicles

Transport for London (TfL), which he chairs, confirmed this week that it was proceeding with plans to remove the current £10-a-year exemption that lets owners of battery-powered vehicles drive in the capital without paying the £15-a-day congestion charge.

A spokesman said the plans were first announced in 2018, highlighting a statement from that year which mainly talked about scrapping exemptions for taxis. The congestion charge exemption does not apply to the Lez or Ulez schemes.

Confirmation on Tuesday that the zero emission vehicle exemptions will be scrapped were condemned by Quentin Willson, a former Top Gear presenter who now campaigns for a faster transition to electric vehicles.

Mr Willson told The Telegraph that the plans seemed “counter-productive” and that his FairCharge UK group would be writing to the Mayor to object to them.

“The cynic in me can’t help thinking that this is a revenue-based issue,” he said. “Why are we stopping it now? And they will say, ‘well, it’s a congestion issue’. But then surely, it’s manifestly better to have cars with zero tailpipe emissions sitting in queues rather than those that are polluting diesel and petrol?

“So to me, it just doesn’t work with his campaign to make London a much greener, cleaner air city. It seems completely counter-productive.”