Volvo Car UK Calls on The Mayor of London to Announce Findings of the Congestion Charge Review

MARLOW, UNITED KINGDOM – December 16, 2009: Volvo Car UK has today written to The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, asking him to publish the findings of the review of the Congestion Charge exemptions that he promised to deliver before the end of 2009.

In June 2009 Volvo Car UK wrote to The Mayor requesting that he undertake a review of the Congestion Charge exemptions1. This followed the presentation of the What Car? Green Car of the Year Award for the Volvo S40 1.6D DRIVe with Start/Stop which emits as low as 104 g/km of CO2 and up to 72.4 miles per gallon.

In essence, under current legislation, the driver of a hybrid vehicle can travel within the Congestion Charge zone free-of-charge while the driver of a similar, or even lower, CO2 emitting conventional internal combustion-powered car is charged £8.00. Volvo Car UK believed that this disparity was unfair and called upon The Mayor to review it.

In August 2009, following pressure created by Volvo and the ensuing media reporting and online campaign, The Mayor agreed to review the exemptions2. At the time, he confirmed that he would publish his findings by the end of the year.