Paul Barker's blog: 24 February - First steps

Date: 24 February 2015   |   Author:

Although a commendable suggestion, it was a relief to see that the London Assembly Environmental Committee's calls for punitive measures against pre-Euro6 regulation diesels to be brought forward and broadened out from just being inside the congestion charge zone be rejected on the grounds that businesses need time to adjust.

But it does now seem that any diesels not meeting the new Euro6 rules, coming into force this September will be facing penalties from 2020, and I'd guess the London congestion charge is just the start.

Also interesting was the release from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles that set out three new bands for ultra low-emission vehicles depending on their range or emissions figures and the technology.

OLEV wouldn't confirm this, as it failed to respond to either phone calls or emails but our suspicion, pretty much confirmed by a couple of contacts that preferred to remain nameless, is that when this branch of grant funding for plug-in vehicles expires in 2017, unless the money runs out first, there will be a new graded system depending on how green the vehicles are. Potentially only full zero-emission EVs will get the full amount, whatever that may be, and grades two and three - vehicles with emissions of under 50g/km and a zero-emission range of 10-69 miles and 50-75g/km and at least 20 miles respectively - will get money on a descending scale. That's speculation at this stage, but remember where you heard it first!

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