TfL Ref: FOI-2190-2223
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 2022, asking about the expansion of the ULEZ and vehicle testing.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked:
Why is there not a vehicle testing scheme, as per the scheme you have for motorcycles (with stations at Riverbank Motorcycles LTD & ULEZ Testing UK LTD) to be able to test vehicles at the owner’s discretion to prove or not whether it is physically ULEZ compliant. As regardless of age or EU emissions standards, there are vehicles that will be meet the required 0.08g/km of NOx limit.
To impose the expansion of ULEZ, and the for the general public to have to take TfL’s own database of compliance as gospel, is a conflict of interest for TfL and as a method of appeal; there should be an optional channel for owner’s to have their vehicles tested.
The emissions requirement for passenger cars in the ULEZ is that they should not exceed 0.08g/km NOx on the relevant type approval drive cycle. This is equivalent to the Euro 4 standard for petrol cars and the Euro 6 standard for diesel cars. Normally compliance is assessed on the emissions recorded by the DVLA for the vehicle (and shown on the V5C document). Only where no data is recorded is an age based assessment used. Where a vehicle owner disagrees with the compliance assessment and can provide proof of emissions, these are considered. Suitable proof would be an original type-approval certificate of conformity for the vehicle, or a letter from the vehicle manufacturer`s homologation department.
Regarding your question as to why there is no emissions testing facility for passenger cars to demonstrate ULEZ compliance, work by the Motorcycle Industry Association showed that emissions records for older motorcycles rarely exist and were seldom recorded by the DVLA. A motorcycle specialist with suitable testing equipment for two-wheeled vehicles registered prior to 2007, proposed a testing scheme which allows owners of these older machines to test, at their own expense, to prove their emissions. TfL examined and was able to accept the results of this testing. Despite holding extensive discussions with a number of facilities with suitable equipment for testing cars, it has not been possible to create a similar scheme for car owners.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Eva Hextall
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
