'Toxin tax' tactics, PH style
Want to use a fun car in London that doesn't cost £1m to either buy or drive in the capital? We have a few suggestions...
Well the choice has improved in recent years
Frustrating for both will be the cars that are exempt from the charge because of their ability to perform on the NEDC test. Y'know, the test that is known to be entirely unrepresentative of real world conditions. The one that is allowing cars to be purchased on false environmental virtuosity and taxed at a much lower rate. A situation not dissimilar to diesels a while back, in fact, and discussed in Dan's recent blog. We're now in a consumer market where two-tonne V8 hybrids can be perceived as more 'green' than much smaller cars thanks to a skewed test.
So what's the solution? Well there will be no getting away from the regular congestion charge, given the current criteria requires less than 75g/km and will likely be more strict from 2019. In fact the only cars we can think of that conform to that and have some PH interest are the BMW i3 and i8 plus the Tesla Model S. Not exactly cheap cars though, even if the i8 is now not far off half its original price.
It seems wise to avoid diesel for fear of further penalties, so what are the petrol possibilities? What we need is fun, Euro5 compliant, fairly affordable to tax (remember cars up to March this year had the staggered CO2 tax bands) and cheap to buy too. Hmm...
Fun, eco friendly, modern and getting cheaper...
So there are ways to not be clobbered with this new charge in both new and used cars. All other suggestions are welcome too, of course... Finally, you could do what so many PHers have done (including our own editor) and import a car from Japan. Tax is cheaper than a UK domestic market equivalent, and there's no mention yet of additional JDM penalisation... More on the actual news story as it develops; there's surely plenty to work out between now and 2019!
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