Is my vehicle exempt from ULEZ?

Is your car exempt from London’s Ultra-Low Emissions Zone charges?

ULEZ CHECKER: IS YOUR CAR EXEMPT FROM THE ULTRA LOW EMISSION ZONE?

Some 60,000 vehicles per day face the charge — is your’s one of them?


IN 2019, London became the first city in the world to establish a dedicated ULEZ for vehicles.

What is a ULEZ?

A ULEZ is an “ultra-low emission zone”. Drivers entering a central area in the capital are charged for doing so if their vehicle does not meet certain emissions standards.

How much is the London ULEZ charge?

Drivers pay a £12.50 charge (or £100 for lorries, buses and coaches) per day for entering the ULEZ if their vehicle doesn’t meet the emissions standards. That’s on top of the £15.00 London Congestion Charge, which currently applies to most cars, so many motorists could have to pay £27.50 per day.

When the ULEZ came into force on April 8, 2019, it was estimated by the London Assembly that up to 60,000 vehicles per day would face the charge.

Why was the ULEZ introduced?

The ULEZ is designed to encourage people to drive less polluting cars or use other methods of transport, such as walking, cycling or public transport. This was expected to substantially improve the air quality in the area.

A report four months after its introduction found that around 13,500 fewer polluting cars were being driven into central London every day, compared with six months earlier. This equated to a decrease of around 36% in levels of roadside nitrogen oxides, which are harmful to respiratory health.

Air pollution causes seven million deaths a year worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the Royal College of Physicians concluded that traffic fumes are contributing to the early deaths of an estimated 40,000 people in the UK.

In December 2020, a coroner ruled that air pollution made a “material contribution” to the death of nine-year old Ella Kissi-Debrah — it was a landmark ruling that for the first time listed air pollution as a cause of death.

Is my car exempt from ULEZ?

Drivers of older, more polluting petrol and diesel cars are affected.

Drivers of petrol cars with engines that are compliant with Euro 4 emissions regulations, which were introduced in 2006, will escape the ULEZ charge.

However, drivers of diesel-powered cars will only be exempt if the engine complies with the Euro 6 vehicle emission rules, which came into force in September 2015; if your diesel car is older than that, it’s possible it will be subject to the ULEZ charge.

However, some cars complied with these emissions standards prior to the rules being enforced, which means some older cars may still escape the charge.

What vehicles are ULEZ exempt?

Though Transport for London “would prefer you use a vehicle that meets the new emissions standards” as outlined above, some older, more polluting cars are also exempt from the ULEZ charges under very specific circumstances.

For example, the ULEZ charge doesn’t apply to any road vehicle that was registered before January 1, 1973. You can also apply for exemption from the ULEZ if your vehicle was built more than 40 years ago, although “commercial use” vehicles (such as street food vans) built between 1973 and 1980 still have to pay.

Exemptions are also made for types of vehicle used for specialist purposes such as agriculture or the military.

No taxis registered for use in London will be hit by the ULEZ penalty. In order to be licensed as a London taxi, the vehicle can’t be more than 15 years old, and all new licensed cabs “must be capable of producing zero emissions”. A new plug-in black cab went on sale in 2017

In addition to the permanent exemptions, some vehicles will also be temporarily excluded from the penalties. Upon registering with Transport for London, all ULEZ area residents won’t have to pay the fees until October 25, 2021, and “designated wheelchair-accessible private hire vehicles” will also be exempt from the ULEZ penalties until October 26, 2025.

Can I make my car ULEZ compliant?

It may be possible to retrofit your non-compliant car or van to meet the requirements, either by changing the engine of upgrading the exhaust, but the cost of doing so and then re-certifying your car so that it is recognised as compliant by the DVSA is unlikely to make it worthwhile. The best options if you need to travel into the ULEZ are to go by other means (cycling, public transport, taxi, etc.) or sell the car and buy one that is compliant (you don’t have to buy new, remember — you just need to buy a car that meets the emissions standards). It may be possible to part exchange your old car or scrap it via a dealer.

ULEZ checker

The best way to check whether or not your vehicle is exempt from the ULEZ charge is to enter its registration number (number plate) into the ULEZ vehicle checker at the Transport for London website.

How big is the London ULEZ?

For now, the ULEZ covers the same area as London’s Congestion Charge zone; an area expanding outwards from Waterloo, with the boundary stretching to Vauxhall Bridge in south west, up to Paddington in the north west, across to Angel in the north and down to Whitechapel, then over Tower Bridge and back to Vauxhall via Elephant and Castle.

Congestion charging zone

From October 25, 2021, the ULEZ area will be expanded to the North Circular and South Circular ring roads.

ULEZ zone map

On what days and between what hours does ULEZ operate?

Unlike the Congestion Charge, which is in force between 7am and 10pm, seven days a week — with the exception of Christmas Day — the ULEZ operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with the same exception of Christmas Day.

This £12.50 fee daily rate resets at midnight, so if you enter at 11.59pm and exit two minutes later, you’ll be charged for two days (£25).

What’s the penalty for not paying the ULEZ charge?

If your car isn’t exempt and you don’t pay your ultra-low emissions zone charge on time, you will be subject to a £160 penalty. This will be halved to £80 if you pay for the fine within 14 days.

Is the congestion charge expanding?

There was speculation in October 2020 that the congestion charge, which currently covers an area in central London, would be hugely expanded in order to recover money that Transport for London lost during the coronavirus Pandemic. Government Ministers, including Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, had proposed expanding the £15 per day charge to the North and South Circular roads, which would have affected around four million Londoners.

However, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said that he had “succeeded in killing off” the proposal. As part of the agreement made with central government, though, London will need to raise extra money in future years, meaning that the temporary changes that were made to the congestion charge in June (raising the price to £15 per day and expanding hours to 10pm) could be made permanent.