Boom in green cars could 'damage' C-charge

A boom in sales of "green" cars signals disaster for the congestion charge, environmental experts warned.

Ken Livingstone plans to let drivers of popular small cars, such as the Fiat Panda, Ford Fiesta and Renault Clio, avoid the toll from February.

Until now the only total C-charge exemption was for electric, biofuel and hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius and G-Wiz.

Under the same plan drivers of gas-guzzlers will have to pay £25 a day to enter the congestion zone from next autumn.

The Green Party said today figures showed sales of low-emission cars that will qualify for the 100 per cent discount were soaring.

Sales of band A and B vehicles - emitting 120g of carbon dioxide per kilometre or less - jumped by nearly a third in the first nine months of this year.

The sales boom means London's roads could become swamped with drivers switching to lower-polluting cars to save around £2,000 a year on congestion charges.

The Greens claimed this would worsen congestion and pollution, as well as increase accident rates, because Transport for London had based its plan on out-of-date data. Jenny Jones, Green Party member on the London Assembly, said she supported the £25 gas-guzzler charge but added: "Londoners are switching to greener cars far faster than the Mayor realises.

"By late 2009, when the leastpolluting cars are due to be exempted from the charge, Londoners are more likely to be buying a band A and B car than a gas-guzzler.

"This is good news for the environment but cars are still a second best alternative to public transport, cycling and walking for most London journeys. Even greener cars should be made to pay more than the cost of a Tube journey as they can still cause congestion and road injuries.

"I think that giving band A and B cars free entry is an unnecessary change, which could undermine the success of the congestion charge."

A study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research found the Mayor's plans could result in central London being swamped with an extra 10,000 cars and contribute to global warming.

The study, commissioned by Land Rover, said the scheme would have economic and environmental costs that "far outweigh" possible benefits in terms of greenhouse gas reductions.

It said the scheme would cost £6.5 million to set up and between £1.5 million and £2.5 million a year to run - enough to offset up to 20 times the amount of carbon emissions it would prevent.

A TfL spokesman said: "One of the main aims behind the proposals is to encourage people to consider the effect of their car on the environment and to choose less-polluting vehicles.

"At present, only around two per cent of cars using the congestion charging zone are in vehicle excise duty band A or B and less than one per cent also meet the Euro IV standard of air quality that would make them eligible for the 100 per cent discount."