EV Congestion and Zonal charges

You’ve probably heard about LEZ (low emission zones), ULEZ (ultra-low emission zones), and congestion zones. But what do they actually mean?

Basically, they’re all pretty much the same, areas of the country that you might be charged for driving through. All put in place to reduce the build-up of traffic and improve air quality and, usually in big cities (e.g. Birmingham, Glasgow, Bristol, and London).

The good news is that with your EV you should be exempt from ULEZ and LEZ charges as you wont create any tailpipe emissions. Though, as time goes on you might find that councils with congestion zones rather than low emission zones will reduce the incentives that EVs get. If you live in, or near, an ULEZ or a LEZ you can get in touch with your local council to check if your car is exempt. Most EVs are automatically exempt, but we’d hate you to be caught out.

It’s also best to triple-check when travelling. In France for example, the French authorities need you to display a sticker called a Crit Aire in some regions and cities to show you’re exempt.

As of 2nd January 2026, EVs will no longer be exempt from Congestion charge, but you'll still get a discount. If you live in London, or are planning to drive in London, you'll need to register for Auto Pay to secure your discount.

You can check how much you'll pay with the TfL's vehicle checker.

In short, no. The Dart charge has nothing to do with congestion and is the charge to use Dartford crossing. So even if you have an EV, you need to pay the fee by midnight of the day after you make the crossing.

The easiest way to pay is to register for an account to make payments online when you make the crossing.

If you don’t register, and you have an Octopus EV salary sacrifice lease, we get your Dart Charges manually through the post and we'll transfer them over to you as soon as we have them.

Want to know more about all things EV? Head over to our EV hub.