London ULEZ extends
No charge for Historic Vehicles and some imported classics
Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ) are a growing feature of UK cities, with vehicles that don’t meet the emissions criteria being charged a daily rate to enter the zones. A really big one kicks in on 25th October when London’s existing ULEZ is extended out all the way to the North Circular and South Circular roads (though not including them).
There is still much confusion and consternation over this change; the classifieds are already filling up with ‘for sale due to ULEZ’ ads as owners seek to avoid the £12.50 daily charge.
The good news for many classic owners is that historic vehicles are exempt from the charge. So if your classic is more than 40 years old and has been granted its Historic Vehicle taxation class so you get free road tax, you won’t get billed for the ULEZ charge – Transport for London (TFL) uses the DVLA database so exemption will be automatic.
At the other end of the scale cars need to meet Euro 4 (petrol) or Euro 6 (diesel) emission standards. Roughly speaking that is 2005 onwards for petrol, 2015 for diesel. You can check if you car gets the thumbs-up on the tfl.gov.uk website.
In between there are some grey areas. Reader Ian Dunn contacted us about his 1987 Mercedes-benz 560SL. It was imported from California and he was told by the dealer that its Californian emissions met Euro 4 standards. However, as a non-uk market car its emissions are not on the DVLA database.
TFL told us that in such cases they can only take the car’s age. However, they also admitted a get-out clause. If you can get a letter from the manufacturer stating that a car like this does comply with the correct standards, they will amend their database and waive the charge.