London’s controversial £8-a-day congestion charge in London is to rise to £25 for cars such as SUVs – known here as “Chelsea tractors” – that emit high levels of carbon dioxide.

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Ken Livingstone, the mayor, said yesterday that the proposed rise would apply to vehicles in Band G, the top road tax rate, according to the Daily Telegraph. It would be “a painful regime” aimed at tackling “catastrophic climate change” he was quoted as saying.


Livingstone reportedly wants to introduce the new charge by 2009. If successful, a London-wide emissions charge could start by 2012.


UK cars are taxed on a rising scale of bands according to CO2 output. After changes to Band G were announced last March in chancellor (finance minister) Gordon Brown’s March budget, it became clear that it covered more than 800 models, including ordinary family station wagons, as well as bankers’ limousines and “Chelsea tractors”, the paper noted.


It applies to any vehicle that emits over 225 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre and the £25 charge would apply to vehicles as diverse as the V8 petrol or V6 diesel Range Rover Sport, which emits up to 374 grams per kilometre, as well as the two-litre, four cylinder petrol-powered Ford Mondeo 16V auto (about the size of the US Fusion or an Asian market Honda Accord) which emits 227.

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Yet, the Telegraph noted, some 4x4s (SUVs), such as the Land Rover Freelander and the Toyota Rav4, will escape the charge because their emissions fall below 225.


Livingstone reportedly said plans would be advanced to September for a new lower daily charge for vehicles producing below average carbon dioxide fumes – vehicles in Band B – such as the Peugeot 106 or the Citroen C1.