London mayor rejects Porsche’s plea to scrap congestion charge
Since February 2003 motorist travelling into a designated Congestion Charge Zone in London had to fork out £8 if they did so between 07:00 and 18:00. Now, a new charging structure has been tabled that will see vehicles being charged based on potential vehicle emissions from October this year.Greenies are exempted; with a charge of £0 on vehicles that emit less than 120g/km CO2 (i.e. meets Euro 4 air pollution emissions). In contrast, any vehicle with emissions higher than 225g/km CO2 or have an engine capacity above 3000cc or is a pick-up with two rows of seats will be charged £25 per day.
Sportscar builder Porsche AG has taken offence to the proposed reforms to the charging structure. Its least-polluting vehicle, an entry level Boxster, emits 222g/km CO2 from a 3.2 litre engine – this being the only vehicle safe from the congestion charge. It powerful Cayenne SUV pumps out 500bhp (368kw) and 358/km CO2. Around 2,500 Porsches are sold in London each year.
As a result of the (realistically expected) concern expressed by their customers, Porsche wrote a letter to the Lord Mayor requesting the new system to be scrapped. Mayor Livingstone responded with: “Porsche have a clear vested interest in attempting to block this groundbreaking scheme, against the interest of Londoners as a whole.” He flat out rejected the request. Porsche will no continue a legal challenge asking for a judicial review of the new law.
It can be argued that the new congestion charge will succeed in keeping the roads of London of grid locking. How? Well, be keeping business investment away from the city centre. An interview with a British Porsche driver – a multi billionaire with an investment company in the heart of London – revealed that he and several other business colleagues plan to now hold business meeting outside the city, and will consider moving any new developments outside the congestion zone – both for their own, their employees and their customers benefits.
Sources: Bloomberg.com, CNN.com, Wikipedia
By Christie Viljoen
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