Porsche launches second attack on congestion charge rise
Porsche has slammed plans to increase the congestion charge for high polluting vehicles for the second time in a week. The German car marque claims the amount of emissions saved in a year as a result of the charge will be equal to the emissions produced at Heathrow Airport in less than four hours.
Transport for London will charge cars that emit more than 225g of carbon dioxide (CO2) per km £25 a day from October. It estimates the increase will cut emissions by up to 5,000 tonnes a year, which is equal to the emissions produced at Heathrow in three hours and 15 minutes. The low estimate for CO2 savings is 100 tonnes a year, the equivalent of what is produced at Heathrow in less than four minutes.
Porsche announced earlier this week that it will seek a judicial review into the charges, labelling them “disproportionate” and “unjust”. Now the company’s GB managing director Andy Goss says closer examination of the figures show the “negligible” environmental benefits of the increase.
“Calling this tax an emissions charge is a misnomer,” he adds. “Not only is this new charge an unfair tax on motorists and families, it is a tax that will do nothing to reduce emissions or congestion in London.”