| Charging enforced | Hours | Daily fee (Euro 4/6) | Daily fee (Non-Euro 4/6) | Exemptions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | April 2019 | 24/7 | £0 | £12.50 | None |
| Birmingham | June 2021 | 24/7 | £0 | £8 | Residents, two years |
| Oxford | February 2022 | 7am-7pm | £4 | £10 | £2 for cars <75g/km CO2, £0 for cars with 0g/km CO2 |
| Bristol | June 2022 | 24/7 | £0 | £9 | Residents, one year |
| Glasgow | June 2023 | 24/7 | £0 | £60* | Residents, one year |
| Aberdeen | June 2024 | 24/7 | £0 |
£60* |
None |
| Dundee* | May 2024 | 24/7 | £0 | £60* | None |
| Edinburgh | June 2024 | 24/7 | £0 |
£60* |
None |
*£30 if paid within 14 days
Uniquely, London has two separate schemes.
The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) applies 24/7 and charges pre-Euro 4 petrols and pre-Euro 6 diesels £12.50 to enter. It covers the entire area within the North Circular and South Circular roads.
The Congestion Charge operates between 7am and 10pm on weekdays and 12pm and 6pm on weekends within a much smaller area of central London. All vehicles with a combustion engine – including plug-in hybrids – are charged £15 per day to enter the zone, in addition to any ULEZ fees.
What does this mean for fleets?
For now, it shouldn’t be a huge concern. Most fleets operate cars that are less than three years old, which meet the required Euro standards so will be exempt from most charging clean air zones.
However, the grey fleet is more challenging. With less attractive tax breaks in the late-2010s, HMRC estimates that the UK’s company car driver population declined from 950,000 to 720,000 in the past decade. It has pushed some towards cash allowances or using their own cars instead, which are likelier to be older and therefore non-compliant.
Commercial vehicles are a bigger potential headache. Department for Transport data suggests that only 40% of business-owned vans are less than three years old, while one in six is more than a decade old. With five additional cities (Bath, Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield) planning Class C zones, the recent uptick in demand for used Euro 6-compliant vans isn’t much of a surprise.
