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]

In the magical world of commercials, people are for some reason allowed to act in ways that would get you kicked out of all sorts of establishments. Take for example Lisa Snowdon, a UK television presenter and model, who Ford convinced to don a dress made of money. The outfit was designed by a student at the London College of Fashion and is made out of four hundred GBP5 notes.

Apropos to AutoblogGreen, it should be noted that this dress is made from 2,000 GBP - the amount Ford estimates someone would save if they drove a new Ford Fiesta diesel in London for a year. Both the 1.4 TDCi and the 1.6 TDCi Fiestas escape paying the city congestion charge and are hit with just 35 GBP of road taxes a year (compared to 300 for some larger vehicles). The better news is that the 1.4 TDCi emits 119 g/km and the 1.6 TDCi 116 g/km.

During the photoshoot, Snowdon said: "It is important to me to be aware of my carbon footprint and to keep motoring costs down. I'm a busy girl - in and out of London all the time - and so saving myself GBP2,000 on travel means more in my pocket for the good things in life - like a spending spree!" All right, time to throw her out...

There's another picture of Snowdon in the green and Ford's announcement after the break.

Related:

• Embargo leakage: First images of the Ford Fiesta for Frankfurt

[Source: Ford of Britain]

The consultation period on London Mayor Ken Livingstone's revised congestion charge plan starts today. Getting in an opening salvo, the non-executive chairman of the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMIF), Alec Murray, says straight-up that the proposal won't work.

"The emissions of most private cars driven in central London fall below the highest proposed emissions-based congestion charge level , so it is questionable if the proposed plan will achieve its aim of further reducing central London traffic levels," he said in a statement.

Murray and the RMIF say the problem is that since there are so many new cars being sold that fall into the congestion charge waiver category (exactly what Citroën was advertising the other day), an emissions-based plan will not limit the amount of cars in downtown London.

While I take RMIF's point, Livingstone is working on this plan to "tackle climate change," not only to reduce the number of vehicles. I know the specifics matter, but 100 low-CO2 cars are better for the air than 75 high-CO2 ones, no? Of course, 50 bikes and 50 low-CO2 cars is even better...

[Source: Mayor of London, RMIF]

With a new possible increase in London's Congestion Charge being discussed, Citroën is reminding people that there are "No fewer than 23 models in Citroën's current line-up could become exempt from the London's Congestion Charge, if Mayor Ken Livingstone's proposals, announced in full today, get the green light."

If you want to avoid the £25 per day charge (for the largest CO2 emitters), and like the Band B and A size, you can drive Citroën's C1, C2, C3 or C4 models and drive into London without paying the new Congestion Charge, should it go into effect. As we mentioned yesterday, the Smart ForTwo diesel and VW Polo Bluemotion would also fall into the drive free category. If you want to find out what band your vehicle is in, try this site.

[Source: Citroën]

If you're going to deliver goods anywhere within the London Congestion Zone, the Nicholson McLaren Engines company would like you to consider converting your delivery truck over to dual fuel (petrol and LPG). Last week, NME converted its 1,000th Citroën Berlingo 600 LX 1.4i vanto dual fuel and, because a NME Berlingo dual fuel van is exempt from the London Congestion Charge (for meeting meeting Powershift Band 4 emissions standards) companies that make the switch can save a lot of cash driving around the city. You can see NME's calculations after the jump, but the short of it is a costs savings that should pay for itself within the first year.

The 1,000th convert was purchased by building contractor Maulyte Ltd., which plans to use them for three years. There's lots more, including another picture, after the jump.

[Source: Citroën]

London, the city where you have to pay to drive your dirty, CO2-emitting car, is doing a lot to clean the air. City officials' latest move was the unveiling of two electric car-charging stations. Fuel-hungry EVs can find the stations in Wellington Street and Southampton Street near Covent Garden in the West End. The most amazing part? The juice is free.

Yes, I said free. And there are 48 more planned for Westminster City Council's car parks.

Councillor Alan Bradley told the BBC that, "Putting free charging points on the street where people need them most is a simple concept which we hope will help galvanise broader appeal for electric car use. Electric cars are ideally suited to city driving and we hope in years to come we will see more and more people using them to travel around the City of London" (British spellings kept to enhance the mood).

Oh, and don't forget that EVs are exempt from the city congestion charge. Over 750 G-Whiz electric vehicles have been sold in London, and if electric car sales don't take off in the city now, I don't know what will make it happen.

Related:

• G-Whiz sweepstakes winner returns EV because town can't charge it
• British company offering electric cars for rent

[Source: BBC via EV World]

All of Citroën's C1 City cars and some C2 and C3 models will be exempt under proposed rules changes to the London Congestion charge. In all, 20 Citroën models would be exempt. The vehicles fall into the Tax Band B, which is a category of vehicles that emit less than 120 grams of CO2 per kilometer and would be exempted from the charges.

After hearing from Citroën about their excluded cars, I tried to dig through the government's website and see which cars from other manufacturers are exempt. But to no avail. If anyone has the list of cars that would be exempt under the new rules, could you say so in the comments? This BBC article talks about the general exemptions, but doesn't break it down by model type. There's a lot more detail in this BBC article, but it's focused on parking fees. Is that what Citroën means? Their release is awfully unclear, but I thought they mean the daily driving charges. Under the proposed changes to the parking fees, Band A cars (basically electric vehicles) would park for free. Band B cars (like the Prius and the Renault Megane dCi 106 diesel) get a 50 percent reduction and the scale continues until gas guzzlers are paying 50 percent more to park in London.

[Source: Citroën]

[Update: Yes, Citroën is talking about daily driving charges.]