FOI - ULEZ emissions standards [Sep 2023]

Your request

1. Please tell me how me paying £12.50 makes my vehicle compliant to the safe emissions levels?
2. What is the measurement which constitutes safe emissions?
3. How are emissions from my car measured so you absolutely and irrefutably know and can prove that my car’s emissions are at the level which means it contravenes the levels which are deemed safe?
4. How does paying an emission charge to drive on a road make the air any cleaner and make my car suddenly acceptable to drive those roads although the emissions levels remain the same?

Our response

The Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) would prefer for all drivers to use vehicles that meet the ULEZ standards rather than pay the charge. Nearly 97 per cent of cars seen driving in the current zone and 90 per cent of cars seen driving in outer London on an average day meet the ULEZ emissions standards meaning their drivers won’t have to pay the charge. Additionally, nearly half of all London households do not own a car. 

The ULEZ has been designed to strike the best balance between maximising the health benefits for Londoners and minimising the cost to drivers in London. The £12.50 daily charge has been set at a level to enable occasional trips to be affordable, while at the same time encouraging those who frequently drive in the city to upgrade their vehicle, as they contribute more to harmful emissions, or to switch to walking, cycling and public transport where possible.

As noted on the TfL website, to meet the ULEZ standards, your vehicle must meet the required Euro standard for your vehicle and emission type.

The ULEZ standards are Euro 4 for petrol cars and vans, Euro 6 for diesel cars and vans, and Euro 3 for motorcycles. These reflect the points at which new Euro Standards resulted in a very large drop in permitted emissions compared to previous standards.

The Euro standards regulate the volume of certain pollutants a vehicle can emit. Compliance with these limits is precisely tested and measured by national approval authorities before engines can be put on the market.

The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) is the designated UK Type Approval Authority.

You can read more about the process of vehicle type approval on the VCA website.

The ULEZ standard for nitrogen oxides (NOx) is that the vehicle may not emit more than 0.08g/km NOx on the type-approval type 1 test. That level of NOx emission is equivalent to Euro 4 for petrol cars and Euro 6 for diesel cars. 

If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting reference MGLA250923-7101.