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Electric lorries and vans will have to pay for entering London’s congestion charge zone from January, despite criticism from the industry.
Transport for London (TfL) confirmed they would be subject to a 50% discount and pay £9 a day from 2 January, while electric car drivers will get a 25% discount.
The discount will be reduced to 25% for lorry drivers from 2030.
TfL said if it didn’t make the changes there would be more than 2,000 additional vehicles on the roads during operating hours on an average weekday.
It said that since the cleaner vehicle discount was introduced in 2019, the number of EVs registered had risen almost sixfold – from around 20,000 to more than 116,000 earlier this year – and they will account for close to 20% of all vehicles in the charging zone by the end of the 2025.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said: “While the congestion charge has been a huge success since its introduction, we must ensure it stays fit for purpose, and sticking to the status quo would see around 2,200 more vehicles using the congestion charging zone on an average weekday next year.”
A proposal to start charging electric truck drivers was included in a consultation in the summer, which Logistics UK said would be a disincentive for haulage operators to serve the capital and charges should be used instead to encourage road users to use alternative modes of transport.
At the time, Chris Yarsley, Logistics UK senior policy manager, said: “Operators have made significant investments moving to electric vehicles and they simply cannot afford to soak up additional costs so it is likely that any increase in charges will have to be passed on, which will ultimately lead to increased prices for the end user.”
