London Congestion Charge prices to rise for all drivers and EVs must pay
Congestion Charge will rise to £18 next year, and EV drivers will now have to pay a reduced rate
Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed it will proceed with its plans to increase the Congestion Charge from the beginning of 2026, as well as remove the exemption for EVs – a move that’s expected to generate tens of millions of pounds per year, but that experts warn could further stall the transition to electric vehicles.
From 2 January 2026, the daily Congestion Charge rate will go up from £15 to £18. Electric vehicles will also become subject to the charge, although zero-emissions cars registered through the AutoPay scheme will get a 25 per cent discount. Registered electric vans, bikes and HGVs will benefit from a larger 50 per cent discount. This will reduce to 12.5 per cent and 25 per cent respectively from March 2030.
City Hall is pitching the increase as not only a means to encourage drivers into cleaner vehicles, but also reduce traffic on the streets. Without the rise in cost, TfL estimates that there would be as many as “2,000 additional vehicles driving during operating hours in the zone on an average weekday”.
Those living in the local areas having applied for the 90 per cent Residents’ Discount will be able to retain this privilege until March 2027. But from then on the discount will only be eligible to those driving a full EV.
Mayor of London, 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 Charg[e] zone on an average weekday next year.”
However, some people will view the change as a money-making scheme; Auto Express research recently discovered that TfL is expected to generate as much as £75million from EV drivers every year once the above changes are implemented.
A survey of over 1,000 Auto Express readers found that four in five (81 per cent) view the increase as “unfair”, although only a third believe EVs should be exempt from the charge – 38 per cent think electric car drivers should pay like everyone else.
Nevertheless, an AA spokesperson told Auto Express that the organisation is “bitterly disappointed that TfL is now picking on EV drivers”, adding the “incentive to get more people into zero- emissions vehicles has now been swallowed up in a general cash grab”.
“London has done next to nothing to provide a park-and-ride facility on the outskirts of the city, but is happy to implement a Congestion Charge that makes people think twice about driving in,” the spokesperson said.
Toby Poston, the chief executive of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), said: “While we welcome the essential exemption for electric car club vehicles, today’s changes will be a hammer blow for anyone that relies on cars or vans for work or essential travel in the London area.”
With EV adoption still below the Government’s ZEV Mandate targets, Poston warned that “removing the 100 per cent discount [for EVs] could not only stall the transition, it could push people the other way”.
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