Stuttgart Ban EU5 Diesel - When will London's T-charge include EU5?

London announced a T-charge from late 2017 for Euro 4 (EU4) vehicles, while Stuttgart banned Euro 5 too. Will London step up to match Stuttgart’s Euro 6 (EU6) only policy?

Stuttgart in southern Germany has today banned any diesel except the latest Euro 6 or EU6 cars from 2018. Diesel particulates are firmly on the political agenda in many European cities, we expect a more widespread move to restrict their use, especially in cities.

New Car buyers should take comfort that cars on sale today are almost exclusively Euro 6, however, the pressure is heavily stacked against diesel in the medium term. Furthermore, many Euro 5 (EU5) vehicles were on sale as recently as last year, especially light commercial vans. For those in business, especially small delivery vans this could cause financial distress.

The rapid progression of these laws and charges is well ahead of the usual 3-4 year vehicle replacement businesses and consumers operate. For those without Co2 driven BIK tax bands to focus on may consider often cheaper petrol engine versions of cars as a good investment.

For those buying used cars, there is a time lapse. Fleet disposals and many individual buyers have diesel cars to sell. Petrol engine cars were often limited to smaller and high performance cars.

The irony is that a Range Rover Sport SVR with a 5l petrol engine may be kinder to mankind than a 2l fleet diesel car.