Talking of Greater Manchester, will customers be able to drive diesel SUVs now that a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) is being introduced..?
The introduction of a CAZ is happening across the UK, not just for Manchester. Essentially, these are areas where targeted action is being taken to discourage the most polluting of vehicles from entering – this could mean prohibiting them entering certain areas or fining/charging the vehicles that do enter those areas.
The focus of the CAZ is to achieve compliance with defined air quality standards.
The government has recognised that some areas are causing issues to people’s health (the young, vulnerable and elderly in particular) and so in the long-term they need to discourage the use of older and more polluting vehicles which operate on the UK roads.
Local authorities have been given the responsibility to implement the CAZ; each Council was asked to ensure a plan of air quality was submitted to them by March 2018. Once this plan is in place, the Government will provide the necessary funding to do this.
Manchester – What are the CAZ categories?
To try to make the process simpler, each local authority has the ability to decide which class of vehicles it will apply the CAZ plan to. These include:
· Class A – buses, coaches and taxis;
· Class B – buses, coaches, taxis, PHVs and HGVs;
· Class C – buses, coaches, taxis, PHVs, HGVs and LCVs; and
· Class D – buses, coaches, taxis, PHVs, HGVs, LCVs and Cars;
For example, if a local authority decides to use Class A, this is only going to affect a limited number of businesses and enterprises (but not delivery drivers or commuters) whereas a Class D CAZ will affect everybody.
For our LCV customers, they need to ensure they are operating a Euro 6 (or higher) vehicles and for our car customers, they would need to ensure they are operating a Euro 6 (or higher) diesel or Euro 4 (or higher) petrol vehicle.
So is this really happening in Manchester?
Some of the public just are unaware of the rapid changes which are occurring across the UK. London are already well on the way to making substantial changes via their Congestion Charge Zone, Low Emission Zone and, from 8 April 2019, their Ultra Low Emission Zone.
These are serious charging/fine based programmes which are in place for those operating in certain areas, in particular the central parts of London.
For customers looking at new cars and vans in the Greater Manchester, they need to aware that changes are very much afoot.
The council have recognised 80% of the NOx and Particulate Matter issues are down to the roads. By the end of 2019 there will be set plans to remediate this situation, with 2021 set to be a Class B policy followed by 2022 becoming Class C.
With 600 new rapid charging stations and 1000 standard charging points due, more is being done to help customers go into an alternative fuel vehicle.
Check out some electric car lease deals or read more about PHEV, electric and Hybrid cars below…
