Driving an electric car in central London just got more expensive – Transport for London (TfL) has increased the price of entering the London congestion zone and the 100% discount for electric vehicles has been abolished starting from 2 January 2026.
So what does that mean for electric vehicle drivers and what do they have to pay? You’ve come to the right place to find out…
What does the congestion charge cost now?
To enter the London congestion zone it’ll cost £18 if you pay on the day or in advance, or if you forget to pay it you’ve got until midnight on the third day (just like in The Little Mermaid) to cough up £21 or Sadiq Khan will come round to your house. Probably.
Do electric vehicles get a congestion charge discount?
Now we’re talking. Electric cars get a 25% discount on the London congestion charge (so you’ll pay £13.50), but only if you set up an auto pay account through TfL. Electric vans, lorries and quadricycles are entitled to a 50% discount (bringing the charge down to £9). Motorbikes, mopeds and quadricycles under a certain size are all exempt from the charge.
Do I have to register my EV?
No – unlike the old system, where you had to provide proof to TfL that your car was zero emission and pay a £10 annual administration fee to get your 100% discount, the new system recognises your car’s entitlement to a discount automatically, so that’s nice. But remember that you only get the discount if you set up auto pay.
What even is auto pay?
Auto pay does exactly what it says on the tin. You have to set up what TfL calls a ‘London road user charging account’ on its website, and then you set up your account with your card details and up to five registration numbers. Your payment card will automatically be debited whenever one of those registration numbers is noted as having entered the congestion zone. Easy peasy. Just remember to deactivate it when you sell the car or hand it back to the finance company.
Will the price stay the same?
Unfortunately not – when it announced the changes back in November 2025, TfL also revealed that it had changed the rules on congestion charge increases meaning that they will happen automatically every year and that discounts like the one for EVs could be changed without warning. The current 25% discount for electric cars will be halved in March 2030 and then got rid of at a later date. There was also an announcement of a 100% discount for car club vehicles in the congestion zone that return to their start location, but sadly the measure wasn't enough to stop Zipcar from shutting down its UK operations at the end of 2025.
