As the next step in an ambitious plan to slash carbon dioxide emissions by some 60 percent by the year 2025, the mayor of London, England, gave his official stamp of approval to a £25 charge (about $49 at this writing) for gas-guzzling sports cars and "Chelsea tractors" (what the Yanks call sport-utility vehicles) entering a central area of the city dubbed the "Congestion Zone." The scheme, which goes into effect on October 27, has drivers (or owners) of cars with the highest greenhouse gas emissions ("Band G" cars, like the lovely Rolls-Royce Phantom you see here) paying the full fee. At the other end of the scale, vehicles with the lowest emissions (Bands A and B, including the 62-mpg Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion, above right, which spew less than 120 grams of C02 per kilometer) will receive a 100-percent discount, and the majority of vehicles (Bands C through F) will continue to pay the standard £8 daily charge (about $16).
Opponents of the tax are quick to note that it won't only be members of the Rolls-driving upper crust who'll be coughing up the 25 quid. A fair number of decidedly less grand family vehicles, including certain variants of the front-wheel-drive Renault Espace minivan, the Ford Mondeo, and the Vauxhall Vectra, will merit the full charge, which, according to the U.K.'s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) could end up costing families who need larger cars as much as £6000 (almost $12,000) a year.
Oh, and before you breathe a sigh of relief that such policies don't exist here, consider that a few American cities are indeed contemplating London-style congestion charges, including New York and San Francisco.
Photos courtesy of Rolls-Royce and Volkswagen.
