Cost of upgrading normal car to ulez?
Cost of upgrading normal car to ulez?
Author
Discussion

SpeedySpeedBoy

Original Poster:

202 posts

111 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
I think you can drive your old cars that do not pass ulez if you add a filter on to your current car so that it passes? On the ulez site I only see expected costs for vans, coaches etc. I want to be driving the 90s jap sports cars none of which I believe pass the ulez. Can I get a filter added and what are the expected costs? Can you provide a reference. Thanks.

GroundEffect

13,864 posts

186 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
No, a filter won't help you since it is NOx they are looking at - you need to be Euro IV NOx levels for a petrol engine. The likes of EGR was added, but mainly to Diesel engines.

Your bigger issue is how you get it re-validated as Euro IV compliant. I'm not sure if you can get an SVA test for it to be stated as compliant or they run off the original homologation. And even more grey area for imports.

SpeedySpeedBoy

Original Poster:

202 posts

111 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
So there's no guidance at the moment on how to upgrade petrol cars to meet the standard? And as such, either you pay the 12.50 a day or scrap your car?

anonymous-user

84 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
SpeedySpeedBoy said:
So there's no guidance at the moment on how to upgrade petrol cars to meet the standard? And as such, either you pay the 12.50 a day or scrap your car?
Or just don't drive into a ulez zone?

Smiljan

12,695 posts

227 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
Er no. You don't have to scrap your car, merely refrain from driving it in the ULEZ if you don't want to pay the money. To be honest you'd already be paying the congestion charge every day if you were daft enough to drive there so whats another tenner or so a day?

Do you really drive regularly in the new ULEZ area?

ecsrobin

18,677 posts

195 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
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“The ULEZ will be enforced based on the declared emissions of the vehicle rather than the age.”

You’re out of luck I’d think.

ecsrobin

18,677 posts

195 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
SpeedySpeedBoy said:
So there's no guidance at the moment on how to upgrade petrol cars to meet the standard? And as such, either you pay the 12.50 a day or scrap your car?
The guidance is walk, public transport or get a new car. https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emissio...

blank

3,766 posts

218 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
I don't think it's ever going to be practical to do this on privately owned passenger cars.

Cost to make the changes (which might not even be possible without a custom ECU or maybe an aftermarket remap if you're lucky) and then re certify will make it prohibitively expensive as a one off, and there's probably not much of a business case for doing it en masses.

Edited by blank on Sunday 10th March 17:44

kambites

71,578 posts

251 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
yes In practical terms, it is almost certainly not viable.

I'm not sure how the ULEZ deals with kit cars; you might be able to install a new engine and re-register it on a Q-plate?

The Li-ion King

3,777 posts

94 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
blank said:
I don't think it's ever going to be practical to do this on privately owned passenger cars.

Cost to make the changes (which might not even be possible without a custom ECU or maybe an aftermarket remap if you're lucky) and then re certify will make it prohibitively expensive as a one off, and there's probably not much of a business case for doing it en masses.

Edited by blank on Sunday 10th March 17:44
What he said...

The best upgrade is to buy a Euro6 car, petrol or diesel. Transport for London made upgrade kits for taxis and buses, but there's none for private cars. Even for Private Hire minicabs there's no such kit.

Just to add to the confusion, the Greater London ULEZ to the North and South Circular Roads (A406 & A205) comes on stream in 2021, this one applies within the central Congestion Charge Zone from 8 April, but they won't tell you that nerd so you can drive your Euro5 diesel to somewhere like Hammersmith or Bow and jump on a train into town. Good luck finding parking as the parking firms will cash in, and most boroughs are Permit Zones...

Meridius

1,608 posts

182 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
If you do a modern engine swap, to an engine that is emissions compliant and all registered with DVLA etc would that be fine for the ULEZ?

SpeedySpeedBoy

Original Poster:

202 posts

111 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
keirik said:
Or just don't drive into a ulez zone?
Problem is I live just outside of the city of london. Initially not driving into the city will do it from April 2019 however by 2021 all of Greater London will be included which means I will have to pay up or scrap as I don’t see myself paying over 3k a year on emissions charges. Apparently cities like Birmingham have also followed suit so the no go zones have just started out.

Edited by SpeedySpeedBoy on Sunday 10th March 19:42

SpeedySpeedBoy

Original Poster:

202 posts

111 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
Meridius said:
If you do a modern engine swap, to an engine that is emissions compliant and all registered with DVLA etc would that be fine for the ULEZ?
This is a good question/work around. For me this could mean an old Honda with an an ep3 or dc5 engine swap as apparently these two cars are ulez compliant.

Whatever the case, until further options become available what a shame for enthusiasts in London wanting to keep there older cars.

Edited by SpeedySpeedBoy on Sunday 10th March 19:50

bristolracer

5,952 posts

179 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
Smiljan said:
Er no. You don't have to scrap your car, merely refrain from driving it in the ULEZ if you don't want to pay the money. To be honest you'd already be paying the congestion charge every day if you were daft enough to drive there so whats another tenner or so a day?
ULEZ will be expanded in 2021 to the north and south circular roads.The congestion zone will remain as smallish area around the west end. So it will be possible to pay the ULEZ charge but not the congestion charge.

OP
Is your Jap an import? Some have sneaked through the LEZ owing to insufficient data, not sure if it would work with ULEZ,may be worth looking at the appeals process if its JDM

Smiljan

12,695 posts

227 months

Sunday 10th March 2019
quotequote all
SpeedySpeedBoy said:
Problem is I live just outside of the city of london.
Ah, so you'll most likely be caught up in the scheme straight away. The ULEZ starts in the same area as the congestion charge zone which traps most areas just outside the City of London already.

Where abouts do you live? If you fall in the zone you may get a bit of hope?

[quote] People currently living within the ULEZ will be granted a three-year sunset period with 100% discount to give them more time to meet the ULEZ standards, which will expire on 6 September 2023.
https://www.classicandsportscar.com/news/general-c...


Edited by Smiljan on Sunday 10th March 21:39

SpeedySpeedBoy

Original Poster:

202 posts

111 months

Monday 11th March 2019
quotequote all
I live 2 miles outside the congestion charging zone so wont be affecting me until 2021 unless I decide to go into the city. I can only hope come 2021 they give me a few years grace period too.


Edited by SpeedySpeedBoy on Monday 11th March 01:03

swamp

1,014 posts

219 months

Monday 11th March 2019
quotequote all
SpeedySpeedBoy said:
I live 2 miles outside the congestion charging zone so wont be affecting me until 2021 unless I decide to go into the city. I can only hope come 2021 they give me a few years grace period too.


Edited by SpeedySpeedBoy on Monday 11th March 01:03
Unfortunately there is no "grace period" on the 2021 expansion.

There is no hope, unless your car is a military vehicle or a mobile crane...

delta0

2,552 posts

136 months

Monday 11th March 2019
quotequote all
I’m hoping the euro 4 compliance requirement stays long enough that the rolling classic car year has moved enough that some really interesting cars come into play. I may then just get an old tax exempt car which will also be ulez exempt.

CornedBeef

649 posts

218 months

Monday 11th March 2019
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I always wondered about the engine swap route, I wonder if you can appeal for reclassification on an individual basis. I.e. old classic, electric running gear ala a Tesla installed and the old engine removed?
Not saying I'd do it, just food for thought.

SpeedySpeedBoy

Original Poster:

202 posts

111 months

Sunday 30th August 2020
quotequote all
It seems you can put a ulez compliant engine in your old car to make it compliant which is great!

I also read that you can get a compliant catalytic device to reduce emissions and make it compliant that way too. Does anyone know the costs of such a mod and where it has to be done etc. Can the device be moved around between cars.

Also how might this device affect sound/performance, no more than a normal cat?

Thanks!