The consultation has closed and the message to Sadiq Khan is clear: no one likes his plan to increase the congestion charge and reduce electric vehicle discounts.
The Mayor has faced criticism from an unusual coalition spanning his own Labour Party colleagues, major corporations, environmental groups, trade unions and politicians from across the London Assembly.
The Mayor’s proposals would increase the congestion charge from £15 to £18 and slash the electric vehicle discount from 100% to just 25%, threatening car clubs with costs of over £1 million annually.
Significantly, Khan’s own party has raised concerns. Labour’s London Assembly Transport Committee Chair Elly Baker has written to TfL warning the changes will be “counterproductive” and could force businesses back to diesel vehicles. Baker argues:
“Business need deliveries, as do hospitals and schools. Small businesses such as electricians and plumbers still need to enter the Congestion Charge zone to work. Therefore, we want these vehicles to be electric and retaining the 100% discount will encourage more businesses to make the switch.”
The criticism from within Labour suggests the proposals face significant political challenges.
Unusual Alliance of Critics
The opposition includes an unlikely coalition of major businesses including AA, DPD, Openreach, Royal Mail and Uber alongside environmental groups including Greenpeace, Green Alliance and the Centre for Net Zero, plus trade unions GMB London and GMB Southern Regions.
This alignment of typically opposing interests is rare in London transport policy.
Clean Cities campaign leader Oliver Lord questioned the logic:
“How is it right that a dirty diesel van pays the same as a cleaner electric vehicle in the most polluted part of the UK? This defies logic.”
Conservative environment spokesman Thomas Turrell said: “Sadiq Khan is pulling the rug from under the feet of the electric vehicles market.”
Reform UK’s Alex Wilson, the party’s first London Assembly member, has pledged to “fight for the capital’s motorists” against the proposals.
Khan has even managed to split the environmental movement. While Greenpeace and Clean Cities oppose his plans, the Green Party supports them. Caroline Russell AM defended the charge increase, saying it’s “unfair that public transport fare payers see annual increases in ticket prices, while costs for people driving remain static.”
When environmentalists can’t agree on environmental policy, something has gone seriously wrong.
Car Clubs in Crisis
At the heart of the opposition are London’s car clubs, which provide shared vehicles that help reduce overall car ownership. These schemes replace 31 private cars for every shared vehicle, according to industry figures. Zipcar was an immediate opponent.
But Khan’s plans would cost them over £1 million annually. One operator estimates it faces £878,000 in extra costs over five years, rising to over £1 million per year by 2030.
CoMoUK’s Richard Dilks said: “It would be utterly baffling if car clubs were treated as private cars under these changes. There are no logical grounds for continuing to discriminate against cars that are shared between many people, including those on lower incomes, in favour of privately-owned cars used by far fewer people.”
The Federation of Small Businesses warned that firms already “making extremely tough business decisions” cannot absorb extra costs, with Michael Lloyd saying businesses will simply “charge customers in the charging zone a premium for their business services which will heighten inflationary pressures further.”
Questions Over Policy Direction
With opposition this broad, questions are being raised about whether the Mayor has misjudged London’s transport priorities.
Critics argue the proposals contradict environmental goals by potentially discouraging electric vehicle adoption, while supporters maintain they are necessary to manage increasing traffic levels.
This latest controversy follows other contentious TfL transport changes. In Putney, residents continue to experience delays from junction modifications that have increased congestion, while TfL/Wandsworth Council recently abandoned its costly one-way system overhaul despite having been opened with strong local support for over a decade.
These examples highlight ongoing tensions between transport authorities’ planning objectives and local community concerns about practical impacts. Support for Khan’s proposals appears limited. The Green Party’s Caroline Russell backs the changes, arguing it’s “unfair that public transport fare payers see annual increases in ticket prices, while costs for people driving remain static.”
Some environmental groups also support the measures, with Sophie O’Connell from Green Alliance praising “London continuing its leadership in encouraging the switch to cleaner vehicles,” though her organisation signed the opposition letter.
TfL defends the changes as necessary to prevent increased congestion, noting that EV registrations for the discount have risen from 20,000 in early 2019 to over 112,000 in 2024.
Next Steps
TfL expects the changes to raise £40 million in the first year if implemented from January 2026. The Mayor will now consider consultation responses before making a final decision.
The breadth of opposition suggests Khan faces significant pressure to modify or abandon key elements of the proposals, particularly those affecting car clubs and small businesses that have invested in electric vehicles.
Did you forget Sir Sadiq has been honoured by King Charles?