- A significant group of over 25 businesses including OEMs, CPOs, electric fleet operators, and environmental groups have written a joint open letter as part of the Electric London Coalition to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to warn against plans to remove the Cleaner Vehicle Discount, which applies to electric vehicles travelling within London’s Congestion Charge Zone.
- Under current rules, EVs are entitled to a 100% ‘discount’ when paying the congestion charge, saving both private drivers and businesses up to £15 per day, per vehicle.
- The Cleaner Vehicle Discount is set to be axed on the 25th of December this year, with the group warning that the move could reverse London’s so-far impressive EV progress.
Businesses warn against the removal of the EV discount for London’s Congestion Charge
With the Cleaner Vehicle Discount, businesses and individuals alike in London have seen the discount as a major incentive towards EV ownership, giving them free access to the centre of London. For businesses in particular, this has been a major push factor for firms to choose electric fleet vehicles over their ICE counterparts. That’s reflected in the ever-growing market share of electric vans not just in London, but also in other regions where clean air zones (with exemptions for EVs) are helping to drive adoption.
London also stands above the national level of EV market share, with more than 1 in 3 new cars registered in London being fully-electric, compared to a national figure of approximately 1 in 4. The 100% discount towards the congestion charge for EVs is arguably a contributor towards this boosted rate of adoption, which has helped to clean up London’s air at a faster rate.
From the Mayor of London’s side, part of the argument is that private car usage – fully electric or not – needs to be reduced. Whilst this is a strong argument in the longer term, the removal of discounts for EVs at a pivotal time for the industry seems premature, and the removal doesn’t lay out any exemptions for electric commercial vehicles. It also appears at odds with the significant amount of public EV charging infrastructure being rolled out right across London, including in areas within the Congestion Charge Zone. The implementation of such a charge for EVs could reduce the confidence of CPOs to further invest in London’s charging infrastructure.
At a national level, the UK already has work to do to improve EV incentives. Much of the industry has called for the removal of the expensive car supplement against EVs, and for the VAT on public charging to be brought into line with that of domestic electricity. If this EV discount is to be scrapped at the end of the year, it could make those EV-hesitant individuals and businesses even harder to get over the line, and risk halting the impressive progress that has been made so far to improving the air quality of the cities and towns we live in.
Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, one of the firms behind the letter, commented:
“As one of the UK’s largest fleet operators, we’re proud to be leading the shift to electric vehicles – with nearly 5,000 EVs already on the road – helping to cut emissions and improve air quality in London and beyond.
Incentives like the Cleaner Vehicle Discount have played a crucial role in making this progress possible. Reducing this support by half risks slowing momentum just as adoption is accelerating. Continued support is vital to overcoming barriers and keeping fleets like ours moving toward a cleaner, more sustainable future.”
Matt Galvin, Managing Director of Polestar UK, another signatory, added:
“The UK has consistently removed incentives to support customers making the move to pure electric and has even increased the tax burden on EV drivers.
We are fully in favour of cleaning up London’s air quality, but removing the CVD will only slow EV adoption and put our net zero targets at risk.
We therefore urge a rethink from TfL. Simply put, it is too early to be taking away highly effective incentives such as these.”
