The War On Diesel Is Getting Serious With £20 Daily Penalties For Driving Into Cities

Drivers of diesel cars could be slapped with daily ‘toxin taxes’ in dozens of UK cities if leaked Government plans go ahead.

The Times writes that as many as 35 of the British towns and cities worst affected by pollution will be able to introduce charges of up to £20 per day, with the ‘nine or 10’ worst areas able to completely ban diesel vehicles at certain times of day.

The newspaper estimates that the number of affected cars alone could run to 10 million, and that’s before considering vans, lorries and buses.

Apparently, the plans could exclude diesel cars in some cities and focus mainly on commercial vehicles, but more detail will be revealed when the Environment Secretary, Andrea Leadsom, makes the announcement next week.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is this week going to announce an unprecedented widening of the London congestion charge net. It would apply a £12.50 charge to ‘the most polluting vehicles’ everywhere inside the North Circular and South Circular roads, on top of the additional £10 ‘T-Charge’ that will be charged to drivers of pre-2006 diesels that enter central London at peak times.

That means that, say, a 2004 Ford Focus diesel would cost at least £20 a day to drive into central London, or potentially at least £32.50 a day if the mayor decides to include older diesel cars in the wider anti-pollution initiative. That would be pretty crippling, and drivers would be forced to take a huge hit on the resale value of their cars in order to swap to something newer or not diesel-powered.

Basically, if you drive an old, polluting diesel and don’t have the money to replace it, be somewhere other than London.

The bad news for diesel drivers continues, with extra taxes on new diesel cars set to be announced in the Autumn budget. Don’t rule out diesel fuel duty increases, either.

Via: The Times (basic subscription required)