The man who brought the congestion charge to London England has lost his bid for re-election as Mayor of England's capital. Ken Livingstone has always been a controversial figure in British politics but his tenure as mayor of London brought that controversy to new heights. In the course of his eight years at the helm, Livingstone introduced the congestion charge that requires drivers to pay a toll of £8 (about $16) per day to drive into a zone of central London. During the local elections held across much of England in recent days, Livingstone lost his bid for a third term to Conservative party MP Boris Johnson.

The congestion charge was originally pushed as a means of discouraging people from driving into the crowded central area of the city. However, recent studies have indicated that in spite of the fee, traffic has actually gotten worse in London. More recently, Livingstone has moved to expand the congestion zone and change the fee structure to make it based carbon dioxide emissions of the car. As a result cars that emit less than 120g/km of CO₂ would have been exempt from the charge while the thirstiest vehicles would have seen the fee rise to as much as £25 per day. Johnson, the new mayor is opposed to this emissions-based fee and promises to scrap the plan and possibly even rescind the expansion of the congestion zone that occurred in 2007. So it looks like while other cities will proceed with emissions based congestion charges, the city that pioneered the idea may be taking a step back.

[Source: Bloomberg]

By now, you're surely aware of the efforts of London Mayor Ken Livingstone to increase London's congestion charge. You're also likely know about the distaste that Porsche feels regarding these changes. Back in late February, Porsche polled Londoners themselves and found that 74 percent of Londoners think that the new £25 congestion charge is too high. Hmm... Livingstone's got his own survey too, and he says, "This robust survey provides further clear evidence of the strong support from Londoners for these measures, with 61% behind the decision to charge £25 for gas-guzzlers. Moreover, 65% say that the overall policy is good for London." Who's right? Don't know, be we do konw that someone's wrong. Unless 74 and 61 make 100 in some sort of new math.

This ongoing debate seems far from over. We're sure that more numbers will be thrown around from both camps (and just about anybody else who has an opinion) which support their viewpoints. Round and round we go!

[Source: What Car]

Automakers are making all sorts of modifications to existing models to beat the 120 g/km of CO2 limit for free entry into London when the Congestion Charge rules change (e.g., Audi A3, 16 models from Peugeot, and 23 from Citroën). For trucks and other large vehicles, the key date is February 2008, when new rules for the London Low Emission Zone (LEZ) kick in. In preparation, Volvo Trucks is broadcasting loud and clear that some of their trucks will be exempt from the incredibly pricey £200 entry fee.

The LEZ rules will be introduced in phases, and Volvo's PR materials say that, "The good news is that all Volvo engines supplied to the UK market since 1993, including all the 12-litre Euro 1 and Euro 2 D12A to D12C power units fitted to the first FH and FM trucks, all the D16's fitted to the first generation FH16's and also the D6A fitted to the FL6, meet or exceed the Euro 3 emission levels required for entering the capital." Trucks will still need to be inspected annually to prove they are indeed still "low emission" vehicles.

[Source: Volvo]