Calculate the alternative: Ulez payment or new car?

author: FutureCar Staff    

Sadiq Khan's Ulez scheme has recently been expanded to cover the entire area within the boundaries of the M25. This means that cars that do not meet the emissions requirements of the scheme will now be charged £12.50 for each day they are driven inside the zone.

A new report from used car platform Motorway reveals that one in five Londoners is planning to sell their car in order to avoid paying the Ulez charge. This shows that the scheme is having a significant impact on car ownership in the city.

For those drivers who are considering selling their car and upgrading to a vehicle that will not be subject to emissions penalties, the key question is whether they drive enough to make the investment worthwhile. It is important to calculate whether the savings on Ulez fines will offset the cost of buying a newer car.

For example, a driver who uses an old diesel car for the daily school run through the Ulez would end up paying £62.50 per week, which amounts to an annual cost of £2,000 based on the standard 39-week school year. In order to determine if it is worth buying a newer car for, let's say, £10,000, it is necessary to calculate how long it would take to recoup the investment through savings on Ulez fines.

To help answer this question, The Telegraph has created a calculator. By inputting the model of your car, the desired selling price, the price of the car you plan to buy, and how often you drive into the Ulez each day, the calculator provides an estimate of the time it would take to recover the investment through savings on Ulez fines.

FutureCar Staff