Car not ULEZ compliant? Here are your options

Car not ULEZ compliant? You'll pay £12.50 a day to drive in London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). Forget to pay, and it's a £180 penalty instead.

You have a few options. You can keep paying, drive in the zone less, or change your car. If you're in the zone most weeks, changing the car makes most sense, and an electric car takes the charge off the table for good. Here's what each option costs you, and the different ways to make the switch.

TL;DR

• To be ULEZ compliant, a petrol car needs to meet the Euro 4 emissions standard and a diesel car Euro 6. Check yours on TfL's vehicle checker.
• If your car isn’t ULEZ compliant, you pay £12.50 for each day you drive in the zone, or a £180 penalty if you forget.
• Electric cars meet the ULEZ standard, so they don't pay the daily charge.
• You can lease a new or approved used electric car from Octopus EV, or buy a used one through our partner car360.

A ULEZ compliant car meets the zone's emissions standard, which is in place to clean up London’s air pollution, so you can drive it in the zone without paying. If your car isn't compliant, you pay a daily charge each time you drive in. The zone covers all London boroughs, 24 hours a day, every day except Christmas Day.

For cars, the standard is Euro 4 for petrol and Euro 6 for diesel. Euro standards are the emissions limits a car is built to meet, and the higher the number, the newer and stricter the standard. As a rough guide, petrol cars from about 2006 onwards and diesel cars from about the end of 2015 usually meet it.

The year on your logbook isn't a reliable test, though. Put your number plate into TfL's vehicle checker to know for sure. It works from the records TfL holds, so if you think your car meets the standard but the checker says it doesn't, contact TfL before you start paying.

You've got four options. You can pay the daily charge, drive in the zone less, or switch to a different car, either a compliant petrol or hybrid, or an electric car. The first two only manage the cost. Switching removes it, and an electric car also cuts your running costs.

What about scrappage? TfL's ULEZ scrappage scheme closed to applications in September 2024, so there's now no grant for scrapping a non-compliant car. If you buy a used electric car through car360, you can part exchange your old one instead.

It depends how often you drive in. At £12.50 a day, one day a week adds up to £650 a year. Drive in every weekday and it's £3,250. And that's before you've paid a penny for fuel.

Here are some examples:

Based on the £12.50 daily ULEZ charge, checked September 2026. It doesn't include penalties for missed payments.

The ULEZ and the Congestion Charge are two separate schemes, and it's easy to mix them up. Electric cars used to drive in the central London Congestion Charge zone for free. They now pay, but get a 25% discount if they're registered for Auto Pay. That's £13.50 a day instead of £18.

Outside London, only Birmingham and Bristol's clean air zones charge private cars. Oxford also has a zero emission zone, and Scotland's four low emission zones fine non-compliant cars instead of charging them daily. Electric cars don't pay in any of them.

English clean air zones are run by local councils. They come in four classes, and only the strictest, Class D, includes private cars, according to GOV.UK's guidance. London's Low Emission Zone covers lorries, buses, coaches and other heavy vehicles, so it won't affect your car.

Oxford is the one to watch. Its zone charges £4 a day even for petrol and diesel cars that pass the ULEZ standard, between 7am and 7pm.

Charges checked September 2026. Councils can change their zones, so check the council's own page before you travel.

An electric car has zero tailpipe emissions, so it meets the ULEZ standard and doesn't pay the daily charge. It's also cheaper than a petrol or diesel car to run per mile, especially if you can charge at home.

A full charge at home can cost just £4.32 in a typical EV, compared with £38.74 for the same amount of miles in an equivalent petrol car.

Over a year, that adds up. Charge at home for as little as £157 a year, compared with £1,409 for petrol.

These figures are based on charging at home on a cheap, smart EV charging rate. If you lease with us, you can get Octopus Energy's Intelligent Octopus Go - EV Saver tariff, which is exclusive to Octopus EV drivers.

An older petrol or diesel car is often the one facing a pricey MOT or a surprise repair bill. When you lease an electric car with us, or get it through salary sacrifice, servicing, maintenance, repairs and MOTs are all part of your monthly payment.

Do you really need a car that'll do 300 miles on a charge to get around London? Probably not. Check the real-world range on each car's page on our site, and compare it with the miles you actually drive in a week.

It comes down to whether you want to own the car. Leasing a new or approved used electric car gives you one monthly payment that covers servicing, repairs and road tax, and you hand the car back at the end. Buying a used electric car means it's yours to keep.

Leasing might suit you if you'd rather not be tied to a car that loses value as the technology moves on. Just budget for insurance and breakdown cover on top.

Buying used might be better for you if you want to own your car. Our partner car360, the UK's largest used-EV specialist, inspects, services and prepares every car before it's sold. Cars cost from just £7,499, and delivery can take as little as three days.

1. Put your number plate into TfL's vehicle checker.
2. Count how many days a month you drive in the zone.
3. Check whether you can have a home charger fitted.
4. Get an insurance quote for the car you like. It isn't included in a personal lease.
5. Check the car's full spec before you order.
6. Talk it over with whoever shares the car. The boot needs to fit the dog and the golf clubs, not just your commute.

Cars that don't meet the ULEZ standard of Euro 4 for petrol or Euro 6 for diesel aren't compliant. As a rough guide, that usually means petrol cars from before about 2006 and diesel cars from before about the end of 2015. The registration year isn't a reliable test, so check your number plate on TfL's vehicle checker.

No. Diesel cars that meet the Euro 6 standard are ULEZ compliant, so they can drive in the zone without paying the daily charge. As a rough guide, diesels from about the end of 2015 onwards usually meet it. Older diesels generally don't. TfL's vehicle checker will confirm your car's status from its number plate.

No. TfL's ULEZ scrappage scheme closed to applications on 7th September 2024, so there's no longer a grant for scrapping a non-compliant car. If you're replacing your car with a used electric car bought through car360, you can part exchange your old car instead.

No. Electric cars have zero tailpipe emissions, so they meet the ULEZ standard and don't pay the £12.50 daily charge. The Congestion Charge is different. Electric cars now pay it in central London, with a 25% discount if they're registered for Auto Pay, which brings it to £13.50 a day.

If your car isn't ULEZ compliant and you don't pay the £12.50 daily charge, TfL issues a £180 penalty. That's reduced to £90 if you pay within 14 days. The zone runs 24 hours a day, every day except Christmas Day, so the charge applies whenever you drive in.