Check if your car is ULEZ compliant and calculate annual ULEZ and Congestion Charge costs.
Source: TfL. Ultra Low Emission Zone
By Konstantin Iakovlev · Founder, Calks.uk
Last updated: · Verified against DVLA and GOV.UK 2026 figures
Rates verified: 28 September 2026
Annual ULEZ + CC Cost
£0.00
£0.00/week
ULEZ: £12.50/day for non-compliant vehicles (petrol pre-Euro 4, diesel pre-Euro 6). Covers all of Greater London 24/7, every day except Christmas Day. Congestion Charge: £18/day (£21 if paid up to 3 days late), Mon-Fri 7am-6pm and Sat-Sun/bank holidays 12pm-6pm, central London. Electric cars registered for Auto Pay get a 25% discount (£13.50/day).
Disclaimer
This calculator is for guidance only. It is not financial or tax advice: check anything you rely on against the official source or a qualified adviser. Rates and figures come from DVLA and GOV.UK and are reviewed for 2026. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to our servers.
How It Works
The Ultra Low Emission Zone covers all of Greater London, having started in the central area in 2019 and expanded to the whole city in August 2023. Vehicles that do not meet the emission standards are charged £12.50 for each day they drive inside it, at any hour and on any day of the week. For most petrol cars the standard is Euro 4, which generally means first registered after January 2006. For diesel cars it is Euro 6, generally first registered after September 2015. Compliance is about the engine standard rather than the age on paper, so an early example of a model can fail where a later one passes.
Motorcycles and mopeds have to meet Euro 3, generally first registered after July 2007. Vans, minibuses and specialist vehicles under 3.5 tonnes follow the same petrol and diesel standards as cars. Anything heavier, along with buses and coaches, falls under the separate Low Emission Zone and has to meet Euro VI instead, which is a different scheme with its own charges.
Checking is free and takes seconds: enter your registration number into TfL's Check Your Vehicle tool before you assume anything. Drive a non-compliant vehicle in the zone and the £12.50 daily charge applies, with a £180 penalty if it is not paid by midnight on the third day after your journey, reduced to £90 if you settle within 14 days. The calculator turns a driving pattern into an annual figure. A 2012 diesel, which is Euro 5 and therefore non-compliant, driven into London three days a week costs £37.50 a week and £1,950 across 52 weeks, which is the number worth setting against the price of changing the car.
Payment runs through the TfL website or AutoPay, which registers a card and bills you monthly for the days your vehicle is detected. You can pay from up to 90 days before a journey until midnight on the third day after it, and paying within that window avoids a penalty. Enforcement is entirely by ANPR camera, so plenty of drivers only discover they entered the zone when a penalty notice arrives weeks later. If you drive a non-compliant vehicle into London even occasionally, AutoPay removes that risk.
London is not the only city with charges. Bath operates a Clean Air Zone charging £9 to £100 a day for non-compliant taxis, buses and lorries while exempting private cars. Birmingham charges £8 to £50 a day and does include private cars alongside commercial vehicles. Bradford, Bristol, Portsmouth, Sheffield and Tyneside (Newcastle and Gateshead) run their own Class B, C or D zones. Scotland has gone further: the Glasgow (from June 2023) and Edinburgh (from June 2024) Low Emission Zones ban non-compliant vehicles outright with £60 fines rather than offering a daily charge. Check each city's own vehicle checker before you set off.
If your vehicle fails the standard, replacing it may cost less than paying the charge. London's ULEZ scrappage scheme, which paid up to £2,000 for a car, closed to new applicants on 8 September 2024, so there is no TfL grant towards a replacement now. Some Clean Air Zone cities have run local support schemes, so check with the council before you buy. A replacement needs to be an electric vehicle, a Euro 6 diesel or a Euro 4 or newer petrol, and compliant used cars start at around £3k to £5k.
Example: 2012 diesel car, driving in London 3 days/week
- Vehicle: 2012 diesel (Euro 5, non-compliant)
- Daily ULEZ charge: £12.50
- Weekly cost (3 days): £37.50
- Annual cost (52 weeks): £1,950
- Upgrading to compliant vehicle saves £1,950/year
Source: TfL. Ultra Low Emission Zone
Frequently Asked Questions
- What happens if my car does not meet ULEZ standards?
- You pay £12.50 for each day the vehicle is driven anywhere inside Greater London, at any time of day. Miss the payment deadline and the penalty is £180, reduced to £90 if you pay within 14 days. Petrol cars generally need Euro 4, roughly those registered after January 2006, and diesels Euro 6, roughly after September 2015, so a car of the wrong vintage costs £1,950 a year on a three-day-a-week commute.
- How do I check whether my vehicle is ULEZ compliant?
- Put your registration number into TfL's Check Your Vehicle tool, which returns a definite answer rather than a guess based on age. The standards are Euro 4 for petrol cars, Euro 6 for diesels and Euro 3 for motorcycles and mopeds, while vans and minibuses under 3.5 tonnes follow the car standards. Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, buses and coaches come under the separate Low Emission Zone and need Euro VI.
- How long do I have to pay the ULEZ charge after driving in?
- The window runs from 90 days before the journey to midnight on the third day after it, so paying a day or two late is not a penalty as long as you stay inside that period. Enforcement is by ANPR camera, and many drivers only learn they entered the zone when a notice lands weeks afterwards. Setting up AutoPay registers your card and bills you monthly for the days detected, which removes the risk of forgetting entirely.
- Do other UK cities charge older vehicles to drive in?
- Several do. Bath charges £9 to £100 a day but exempts private cars, while Birmingham charges £8 to £50 a day and includes them. Bradford, Bristol, Portsmouth, Sheffield and Tyneside (Newcastle and Gateshead) run Class B, C or D zones of their own. Glasgow (from 2023) and Edinburgh (from 2024) took a different approach, banning non-compliant vehicles altogether with £60 fines and no daily charge option.
- Is there help towards replacing a non-compliant car?
- Not from TfL any more: London's ULEZ scrappage scheme closed to new applicants on 8 September 2024. Some Clean Air Zone cities have run local support schemes, so check with the council. A compliant replacement means an EV, a Euro 6 diesel or a Euro 4 or later petrol, from about £3k to £5k used.