The congestion charge is the daily charge for qualifying vehicles being used in Central London between 7am and 6pm which is imposed by Transport for London (TfL). For details on where and when the congestion zone is see the TfL website: www.tfl.gov.uk

Here are a few tips to help you beat the congestion charge...
Buy a ‘Greener Car’ If you drive in the congestion charge zone at the specified times every day, then there is a substantial amount of savings to be made if you opt to buy a “charge free” vehicle. As it stands the congestion charge is £10 a day, if you work Monday – Friday and travel in the specified times then that’s a saving of around £2600 a year!

Any car which emits less than 100g/km of CO2 and meets the Euro 5 standard for air quality qualifies for a 100% discount, however you must register the vehicle with TfL prior to entering the congestion zone. If you are unsure of how much CO2 your vehicle emits refer to your vehicle’s registration document (V5C). Any vehicle registered after 1st January 2011 is required to meet the Euro 5 standard for air quality. Please note: some vehicles registered before 01/01/2011 may meet Euro 5 standards, for a full list of Greener Vehicles see: www.tfl.gov.uk

Alternatively, you could buy an electric vehicle as these are also exempt from the congestion charge. The vehicle must be registered with the DVLA and have the fuel type as ‘electric’ on the registration document. On the other hand, buy a plug-in-hybrid that is on the TfL approved list e.g. Citroen CZero, Peugeot iOn & the Renault Fluence ZE.

Change Payment Method The congestion charge is paid per day that you enter the zone, no matter how many times you enter or exit the zone, you only pay once. You are able to pay in advance, on the day of travel or at an additional charge the day after. If you fail to pay by midnight on the subsequent day after travel, you will incur a penalty charge.

- If you pay on the day or up to 90 days before the day of travel then the congestion charge is £10 per day.
- If you pay the following day after travel the charge is £12.

However, if you pay using the Auto Pay system through Transport for London the daily charge is £9.

By using the Auto Pay system you could potentially save £260 per year, based on travelling in the congestion zone every Mon- Fri.

AVOID PENALTIES By signing up to the Auto Pay system you will avoid incurring penalties as this is automatically taken from your account at the end of each month. If you don’t pay the congestion charge before midnight the day after travelling then you will receive a £120 penalty charge, which is reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days.

If you are thinking of buying an electric car here are some of the pros and cons which may be of interest to you...

The concept of electric cars being futuristic and space-like is no longer the case, although some can be, take the twizy for example which are small and compact making them easy to park and ideal for the city. There are also conventional family cars like the fluence which are spacious and have plenty of boot space. Therefore, depending on the desired use of the vehicle there could be a suitable electric car for you.  For more information on the twizy and fluence see www.renault-ze.com.

Advantages! 

Fuel Costs (Charging costs) - On average it takes 6 - 8 hours for the battery to reach full capacity which can be charged from a conventional household plug socket. A full battery can range from 30miles (lead acid) to 245 miles (lithium ion). Most manufacturers are producing cars with a range of about 100 miles. There is also a network of publically available free electric car charging points in the UK. Lakeside shopping centre Thurrock, Essex is the only local charging point which you can conveniently use whilst shopping. However, there are hundreds across the country and150+ charging points in London alone making the cost of fuelling an electric car extremely attractive.

Savings - there are financial incentives for using an electric car such as no congestion charge in London, no road tax, free or discounted parking and free charging bays.

Recyclable - many electric car designers take into consideration the impact they have on the environment and ensure they make the cars recyclable, they also use recycled materials to build the cars.

Noise - electric cars are extremely quiet. They've even introduced artificial noises to ensure those with visual impairments can hear them.

Energy & Emissions - electric cars produce zero CO2 emissions when running, they don't emit nitrous oxide or other particle emissions either. However, they can only be regarded as zero emissions if they obtain their power from a renewable source. So if you charge your battery at home and your house is powered from a non-renewable source, then you are still creating emissions. Electric engines are more efficient, so even if you do charge the battery from a non-renewable source, it still only produces halve the amount of CO2 compared to a conventional engine. 

Health - petrol and diesel engines create a toxic mix of exhaust fumes, although in recent years fuels have improved and leaded petrol has been banned in the UK, they still contain a range of chemicals which are not good for the environment or the human health.  Electric cars produce none of these! 

disadvantages!

Speed - high performance electric cars can reach up to 85-90 mph, on the other hand, the average electric car available in the UK will only comfortably reach 50-55 mph. 

Costs - the upfront purchase cost of a new or used electric car is more expensive in comparison to its petrol or diesel counterpart. Go to www.renault-ze.com to see Renault's new range of electric cars called the ZE range, some of which are conventional but not all!

Distance -the range is affected by many different factors such as the battery, the weight of the vehicle, type of driving and the conditions.  However, electric cars are relatively limited in how far they can go on one full charge but you can extend this with top up charging. Also, cold temperatures will affect the battery life as with any battery.

Batteries - as above, batteries have a fairly short trip life, they can only be recharged so many times before they require replacement - they are expensive to replace and they contain toxic chemicals that must be handled properly.  These batteries do not run out without warning though, you will notice before they completely stop as a result of lack of power and sluggishness.

Charging time - the full recharge time for batteries can be upwards of 7-8 hours, however most batteries can achieve 80% in around 2.5 hours, this is still a lot slower than filling up a conventional car!

Lack of Infrastructure - Charging points, availability, maintenance and servicing are all concentrated in the cities (In the UK, London). To keep electric cars in warranty you'll have to take it to the dealer or a specialist but these at the moment are scarce. For them to be practical they'll need to be able to make longer journeys by having available facilities to recharge and the process needs to be quicker as you do when filling up a conventional car. 

Electricity demand - Electricity generation in this country is not fully environmentally friendly as it stands. At the present time the UK grid could not support the demand for electric if everyone was to buy an electric car.