Sadiq Khan has been accused of continuing to fight a “war on the motorist”, as he faced criticism over plans to remove the congestion charge exemption for electric vehicles.
The London mayor’s opponent in the May mayoral election, Tory assembly member Susan Hall, raised the issue at City Hall on Thursday, as she cited arguments from environmentalists who called the move “puzzling”.
Speaking at a Mayor’s Question Time session, Mr Khan said Transport for London (TfL) did not know, and has not assessed, how much money removing the discount will bring in.
From December 25, 2025, TfL has said that drivers who previously paid £10 for a year's exemption from the congestion charge will have to pay the standard £15 daily fee in order to drive in the central London zone.
The mayor said London is “leading the way” on electric vehicles, with more than 20,000 public charging points now installed across the capital.
He pointed out that the purpose of the congestion charge was primarily to reduce traffic levels in the city centre, rather than cut air pollution.
“Congestion charge discounts for cleaner vehicles have always been subject to tightening standards,” he told assembly members.
“In 2010, Boris Johnson ended the alternative fuel discount because developments in the low emission vehicle market meant it was no longer effective, introducing a greener vehicle discount which itself was later reviewed and amended.
“When the current cleaner vehicle discount was announced in 2018, it was made clear that it would expire in December 2025 - giving a seven and a half year notice period, by which point it was expected that electric vehicles would have grown in number to such an extent that continuing to exempt them would undermine the objectives of the congestion charge.”
Mr Khan said that when the current discount launched six years ago, there were just over 20,000 vehicles registered for it, but by the end of June 2024, that number had risen to more than 112,000 vehicles.
He added it was “difficult to forecast” how much extra revenue TfL will take in as a result of the change, because it was still almost 18 months’ away.
Ms Hall said: “Well I’m astounded by that, but we’ll wait and see how much money that you intend to make off that, because obviously, [with] your war on the motorist, they will continue to pay”.
She quoted comments from Oliver Lord, UK lead at the Clean Cities Campaign, who said that scrapping the exemption was “puzzling”. He had said: “By offering incentives to businesses for electric vehicles, we not only promote greener transport but we also draw a line against the most polluting freight vehicles.”
Ms Hall also cited concerns raised by Alex Pierce, from the electric car support company GoinGreen, who had said of the move: “environmentally and economically, this makes no sense”.
The mayor reiterated that the congestion charge was designed to reduce traffic levels, and that if the exemption remained in place forever, it would eventually mean that every single vehicle would be allowed to drive into central London without paying a daily charge.
The Conservative assembly member replied: “I think it just shows that it’s not about clean air, it’s about making money, and I’m surprised that you don’t know how much money.
“And actually, if you wanted to stop congestion, you’d look at some of the schemes that have been put into London that do nothing but cause congestion, like the massive, great big bike lane on Park Lane.
“There are very many other areas that you could move or change in order to stop congestion, but of course, as usual, it’s a way of you taxing drivers in London.”
