Deliberate modifications to London’s Congestion Cost will value automotive membership operators greater than £1 million per 12 months, the UK’s nationwide shared transport charity has warned.
Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK) stated the proposals from Transport for London (TfL) may pressure automotive golf equipment to extend prices for purchasers, cut back fleet sizes, lower the excessive variety of EVs they run, and threaten the sector’s future within the capital.
It’s calling for autos within the schemes to be handled in a different way from privately owned ones, on condition that they’ve been confirmed to chop the general variety of automobiles on the highway, present low-cost entry to automobiles when they’re wanted, and assist public transport and energetic journey.
In its response to TfL’s session on the modifications, which closed this week, it says the proposed 20 per cent improve within the Congestion Cost would “negatively impression the viability” of automotive golf equipment in London. It asks for a lowered Congestion Cost charge degree for automotive membership autos, and for the present 100% low cost for EVs getting into the charging zone to be continued for automotive golf equipment. It additionally says that automotive membership autos primarily based throughout the zone needs to be eligible for a 100 per cent residents’ automotive membership car low cost, warning that with out this they may develop into “economically unviable”.
Below TfL’s deliberate modifications, the Congestion Cost will rise from £15 to £18 on 2 January 2026. On the identical day, the 100% low cost provided to EVs might be lower to 25%. The 90% low cost for individuals residing throughout the Congestion Cost zone may also be restricted to EVs from 1 March 2027, with an exemption for residents already registered.
One automotive membership at present working in London has estimated that the impression of the primary two insurance policies alone will value it round £878,000 on common over the following 5 years. This determine is made up of £305,000 to account for the rise within the Congestion Cost charge, and £573,000 for the lack of the 100 per cent EV low cost. The annual prices are then forecast to rise to greater than £1 million per 12 months as soon as the EV low cost is lower once more to 12.5% in 2030.
In its session response, CoMoUK warns that the modifications are prone to result in elevated prices being handed onto automotive membership members, doubtlessly making them unaffordable. It says the ending of the 100% EV low cost may also “considerably worsen” Londoners’ entry to wash autos by disincentivising operators from offering them.
“Automotive golf equipment are making an enormous contribution to decreasing automotive possession and mileage in London, with members extra prone to embrace energetic journey and public transport too,” says Richard Dilks, chief government of CoMoUK. “In addition to enabling customers to dwell a car-free or car-light way of life, every automotive membership car replaces 31 non-public automobiles within the capital, liberating up area, slicing congestion and bettering air high quality. It will due to this fact be totally baffling if automotive golf equipment have been handled as non-public automobiles beneath these modifications. We hope that TfL listens, earlier than it’s too late. There aren’t any logical grounds for persevering with to discriminate in opposition to automobiles which are shared between many individuals, together with these on decrease incomes, in favour of privately-owned automobiles utilized by far fewer individuals.”
CoMoUK’s annual automotive membership report this 12 months confirmed that the proportion of EVs inside UK automotive membership fleets has fallen for the primary time, from 35% in 2023 to 30% in 2024.
The charity additionally revealed a briefing which confirmed that working and sustaining a automotive membership EV is round £6,000 per 12 months increased than a petroleum or hybrid automotive in the identical fleet, with operators warning they’re turning into more and more unaffordable.
In April, a report from the London Meeting’s Transport Committee criticised the dearth of a city-wide technique on automotive golf equipment from TfL, calling for its strategy to be “urgently” revisited.
It really useful that the Mayor ought to recognise the significance of automotive golf equipment within the revised London Plan, produce a pan-London motion plan for automotive golf equipment throughout the subsequent 12 months, and develop and roll out an awareness-raising marketing campaign on the schemes.
“Automotive golf equipment are a confirmed congestion-reducing measure, they supply a car when Londoners want one, decreasing the necessity for personal automotive possession. Due to this, automotive golf equipment additionally assist to take away older, extra polluting non-public autos from London’s roads. For this reason we imagine that automotive golf equipment needs to be handled in a different way to non-public autos within the Congestion Cost proposals,” provides James Taylor, basic supervisor at Zipcar. “Absolutely if a automotive needs to be pushed into the congestion zone, it’s higher for this to be a shared and electrical one? The proposals add important extra prices to working shared electrical autos. It’s going to straight result in fewer automotive membership autos within the quick time period and dangers the long-term viability of automotive golf equipment in London. We urge TfL to rethink these proposals and recognise the precious contribution that automotive golf equipment carry to London and the lots of of 1000’s of Londoners that use them.”
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