ULEZ Brochure 23

What do low emission zones mean for you and your business? The rollout of low emission zones around the country is a hot topic.

So where are they?

In Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Portsmouth, Sheffield , and Tyneside (Newcastle and Gateshead) there are clean air zones (CAZ). And there’s one in Greater Manchester currently under review.

In Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen there are low emission zones (LEZ), although only Glasgow’s is being enforced so far, with the rest to follow in May 2024.

In London , there’s the low emission zone (LEZ) and ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) .

Different zones work in different ways, but they share a common objective: to reduce air pollution in cities by limiting or discouraging access for older, more polluting vehicles.

Is this the end of petrol and diesel vehicles in urban centres? No. There isn’t going to be a sudden overnight switch as everyone moves into EVs and hybrids.

Let’s use London’s ULEZ as an example – and bear in mind it’s got the strictest set of rules and requirements of the lot. This is about targeting the oldest, most polluting vehicles out there.

£ 12 .50

Petrol

Diesel

Daily charge

For diesel, it’s Euro 6 this is mandatory for new vehicles for close to 10 years.

Euro 4 is the requirement for petrol vehicles to avoid the £12.50 daily charge to drive in the ULEZ – and it’s been mandatory for all new cars and LCVs for nearly 20 years. That’s a lot of cars on the roads that won’t be affected.