Are ULEZ vehicle spec rules planned to get stricter ?
Discussion
Is anyone aware if the government are currently planning / have a roadmap to change the ULEZ rules from euro4 (petrol) and euro 6 (diesel) to something more stringent ?
I’m aware they are lots of talks about the zone extending , but wondered if they will change the vehicle spec rules also?
I’m aware they are lots of talks about the zone extending , but wondered if they will change the vehicle spec rules also?
I looked into the legislation behind this when Bristol tried to introduce a CAZ with different criteria than the London ULEZ and other cities CAZ, Bristol had to back down and go with the same criteria as it is permitted under central govt legislation.
The existing legislation does not specify any tightening of the rules that I could see, suspect that at some point in the future new legislation will be proposed but no idea what that will require.
The existing legislation does not specify any tightening of the rules that I could see, suspect that at some point in the future new legislation will be proposed but no idea what that will require.
I think it's also worth considering
- Euro 7 isn't out until 2025, so the 'best rated' car you can buy today is Euro 6. So it's hard to impose a stricter level than that.
- Euro 4 petrol cars are limited to 0.08 g/km NOx, this is the same limit as Euro 6 diesels. So it's not obvious that it would be reasonable to impose a stricter limit on petrol cars.
- Many (most?) petrol cars already in fact emit much less than the limit. For example, my gas-guzzling 5.4L AMG is measured at 0.01 g/km on the V5, so one-sixth of the proposed 2025 Euro 7 limit of 0.06.
- Most Euro 4 and 5 petrol engines are *indirect* injection, whereas many newer ones use direct injection which emits *more* particulates (more similar to diesels). So further tightening urban regulations on older petrol cars would be likely to make particulate pollution if anything worse, not better, as people bought newer cars.
Taking all this together, there's little opportunity to impose any kind of tighter restrictions on ICE cars which would be (a) realistic and (b) improve urban air quality at all.
I think the next obvious steps would tax or ban all ICE vehicles in city centres, exempting EVs only (or charging all private cars). However this is probably some way away given the limited number of EVs on the road today. So if you're worried, buy an EV, but otherwise any ULEZ-compliant ICE is probably as good as any other in terms of future air quality rules.
As a counterpoint, Paris has a clear roadmap towards banning ICE vehicles which is laid out here
https://urbanaccessregulations.eu/countries-mainme...
From next January, diesels are banned and petrols Euro 5 and better only. From 2030, EVs only.
- Euro 7 isn't out until 2025, so the 'best rated' car you can buy today is Euro 6. So it's hard to impose a stricter level than that.
- Euro 4 petrol cars are limited to 0.08 g/km NOx, this is the same limit as Euro 6 diesels. So it's not obvious that it would be reasonable to impose a stricter limit on petrol cars.
- Many (most?) petrol cars already in fact emit much less than the limit. For example, my gas-guzzling 5.4L AMG is measured at 0.01 g/km on the V5, so one-sixth of the proposed 2025 Euro 7 limit of 0.06.
- Most Euro 4 and 5 petrol engines are *indirect* injection, whereas many newer ones use direct injection which emits *more* particulates (more similar to diesels). So further tightening urban regulations on older petrol cars would be likely to make particulate pollution if anything worse, not better, as people bought newer cars.
Taking all this together, there's little opportunity to impose any kind of tighter restrictions on ICE cars which would be (a) realistic and (b) improve urban air quality at all.
I think the next obvious steps would tax or ban all ICE vehicles in city centres, exempting EVs only (or charging all private cars). However this is probably some way away given the limited number of EVs on the road today. So if you're worried, buy an EV, but otherwise any ULEZ-compliant ICE is probably as good as any other in terms of future air quality rules.
As a counterpoint, Paris has a clear roadmap towards banning ICE vehicles which is laid out here
https://urbanaccessregulations.eu/countries-mainme...
From next January, diesels are banned and petrols Euro 5 and better only. From 2030, EVs only.
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