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ULEZ & Clean Air Zone Checker

A car that does not meet the standard pays £12.50 a day in London’s ULEZ, £9 in Bristol and £8 in Birmingham, and most other UK clean air zones do not charge private cars at all. Find out whether a car, van or motorbike would be charged, and what it would cost you over a year.

Choose the vehicle type first. Vans and motorbikes have different cut-offs from cars, and vans are charged in more zones.

This checks whether a vehicle meets the standard. It does not tell you which zone a postcode is in. To see whether a street is inside a zone, use the official maps: Transport for London (ULEZ) or GOV.UK (Clean Air Zones).

Choosing a car? Browse ULEZ-compliant used cars for sale on Autoza.

Check a car

Optional. We fill in the vehicle type, year and fuel from the registration, and you can change any of it. Spaces do not matter.

Your registration is sent to DVLA and DVSA to get the answer. We do not store it or the result.

A daily commute is roughly 250 working days.

Likely compliant — no charge

Petrol cars need Euro 4, which applies from around 2006. A 2014 petrol is compliant. TfL says nearly all petrol vehicles produced since 2005 meet the ULEZ standards, and it enforces the ULEZ on a vehicle's declared emissions rather than its age, so this is judged on the registration year alone.

Oxford's Zero Emission Zone is a separate scheme: on a handful of central streets it charges any car that is not zero-emission £2 to £10 a day, by CO2 and Euro standard.

Checking a van or a motorbike?

Choose Van or Motorbike under “Vehicle type” and the answer above follows it — they have their own cut-offs. Vans are charged in London and in 6 of the 7 English Clean Air Zones, and diesel vans generally only meet Euro 6 if sold new from September 2016 (petrol vans from January 2006). Motorbikes must meet Euro 3 in London — generally those registered after July 2007.

Vans on TfL Motorbikes on TfL

The rule of thumb

  • Petrol: Euro 4 — broadly 2006 onwards, and some from 2001
  • Diesel: Euro 6 — roughly September 2015 onwards
  • Electric: always exempt

A late diesel is the one to watch. Diesels only cleared the bar in 2015 — nine years later than petrol.

Browse compliant cars

Every English zone, and who pays

Charges private cars

London
ULEZ
£12.50 / day

Covers all London boroughs and the City of London, up to but not including the M25. Runs 24 hours a day, every day except Christmas Day. Separate from the Congestion Charge, which you may also pay in central London.

Transport for London
Bristol
Class D
£9.00 / day

Small central zone. Fully electric and hydrogen vehicles are exempt. Charged per day, not per entry.

Bristol City Council
Birmingham
Class D
£8.00 / day

Covers the area inside the A4540 Middleway ring road. Charged per day, not per entry.

Birmingham City Council

Does not charge private cars

Bath
Class C

Cars free, any age · vans are charged

Bradford
Class C+

Cars free, any age · vans are charged

Sheffield
Class C

Cars free, any age · vans are charged

Newcastle & Gateshead
Class C

Cars free, any age · vans are charged

Portsmouth
Class B

Cars free, any age

Central London: the Congestion Charge is separate

A ULEZ-compliant car still pays this. It is a different zone, a different scheme and a different bill, and it is charged on the fact that you drove in at all — not on what comes out of the exhaust. Passing the ULEZ check above does not get you out of it.

Congestion Charge

£18.00 / day

Since 2 January 2026. £21.00 if you pay late.

250 days would cost

£4,500

On top of any ULEZ charge, if those journeys are into the central zone.

Electric cars get 25% off through the Cleaner Vehicle Discount and electric vans 50%, but only if the vehicle is registered for Auto Pay. People living inside the zone get 90% off.

Zone boundary and hours on TfL

Scotland works differently

Scotland does not use the Clean Air Zone system. It runs Low Emission Zones, and all four are in force:

Glasgow

Enforced since June 2023

Edinburgh

Enforced since June 2024

Aberdeen

Enforced since June 2024

Dundee

Enforced since 30 May 2024

The crucial difference: a Scottish LEZ has no daily charge you can choose to pay, and you cannot pay in advance. A non-compliant vehicle driven into the zone is issued a Penalty Charge Notice instead, so the annual figures on this page do not translate.

  • What is checked: petrol cars and vans must meet Euro 4 and diesel cars and vans Euro 6, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including public holidays. A hybrid is judged like a petrol or diesel car.
  • Not covered: motorbikes, mopeds, fully electric vehicles. A rider does not need to check.
  • The penalty: the first charge is £60, reduced to £30 if you pay within 14 days. It doubles each time the same vehicle is driven in the same zone within 90 days, up to £480 for a car or light goods vehicle, and goes back to £60 after 90 days with no further charge. You can get only one notice per zone per day.
Check a registration on the official Scottish LEZ checker How the fines work (mygov.scot)

8 charging zones (London's ULEZ and the Clean Air Zones) operate in England. Only 3 of them charge private cars; Oxford's separate Zero Emission Zone also charges cars (see below).

That is 7 Clean Air Zones plus London's separately run ULEZ. Zones are graded A to D and only Class D includes cars, so in Bath, Bradford, Portsmouth, Sheffield and Tyneside a private car drives through free — however old it is, whatever it burns. The charge you have heard about applies to buses, taxis, vans and lorries.

Scotland is a separate system again — see the Low Emission Zones above — and in central London the Congestion Charge is a second bill on top of the ULEZ that even a brand-new car pays.

One more outlier: Oxford runs a small Zero Emission Zone on a handful of central streets (7am–7pm, seven days a week, year round). It is not a Clean Air Zone — every petrol, diesel and hybrid car or van pays £2 to £10 a day there, even a modern Euro-compliant one (£2 for one under 75 g/km CO2), and a petrol or diesel motorbike pays £2; only fully zero-emission vehicles drive through free.

For guidance only. Compliance is set per model at type approval, so registration year is a strong indicator rather than a guarantee — always confirm a specific vehicle on the official GOV.UK clean air zone checker or TfL's ULEZ checker before travelling. Clean air zone charges verified against council and TfL sources on 28 July 2026; Congestion Charge rates and Scottish LEZ enforcement dates on 31 July 2026; historic, van and motorbike rules on 24 September 2026; van and motorbike daily charges on 1 October 2026; Scottish LEZ coverage, penalties and checker on 5 October 2026.

Example · Car · Likely compliant

No charge

Example using default figures. On the zones we cover

Frequently Asked Questions

Which UK cities charge private cars in a clean air zone?
Three Clean Air Zone cities charge private cars: London (ULEZ, £12.50 a day), Bristol (£9 a day) and Birmingham (£8 a day). Bath, Bradford, Portsmouth, Sheffield and Tyneside all have clean air zones, but they are Class B or C, which means private cars are not charged at all regardless of age or fuel. Two separate systems also charge cars: Oxford's small Zero Emission Zone (central streets, 7am–7pm) charges every petrol and diesel car £2–£10 a day — even modern Euro-compliant ones — with only zero-emission vehicles free; and Scotland's Low Emission Zones in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee apply to cars but issue a penalty charge to non-compliant vehicles rather than offering a daily fee to pay.
Is the London Congestion Charge the same as the ULEZ?
No, they are two separate schemes with two separate zones and two separate bills, and you can pay both on the same journey. The ULEZ is £12.50 a day and only applies to vehicles that do not meet the emissions standard. The Congestion Charge is £18 a day in central London, raised on 2 January 2026, and applies whatever the car's emissions — a brand-new petrol car pays it. It rises to £21 if you pay late. Electric cars get 25 per cent off through the Cleaner Vehicle Discount and electric vans 50 per cent, but only if the vehicle is signed up to Auto Pay. Residents of the zone get 90 per cent off.
What makes a car ULEZ compliant?
Petrol cars must meet Euro 4, which broadly means registered from 2006 onwards — though compliant petrol cars have been on sale since 2001, so many earlier ones meet it too. Diesel cars must meet Euro 6, which generally means registered from around September 2015. Fully electric cars are always exempt, and so is any vehicle built before 1 January 1973. TfL enforces the ULEZ on the emissions standard on the vehicle's record, not its age, so check the registration on TfL's vehicle checker before relying on the year.
How much is the London ULEZ charge?
It is £12.50 a day for a non-compliant car. The zone covers all London boroughs and the City of London, up to but not including the M25, and it runs 24 hours a day every day except Christmas Day. It is separate from the Congestion Charge, which you may also have to pay in central London.
Is a 2015 diesel van charged in a clean air zone?
Very likely, yes. A diesel van must meet Euro 6, and diesel vans generally only do from September 2016 — a year later than diesel cars, so a 2015 diesel car is usually fine and a 2015 diesel van usually is not. Vans are charged in London (£12.50 a day in the ULEZ) and in every English Clean Air Zone except Class B Portsmouth: £8 a day in Birmingham, £9 in Bristol, £9 in Bath, £9 in Bradford (Class C+), £10 in Sheffield and £12.50 in Newcastle and Gateshead. Petrol vans need Euro 4, generally registered from January 2006. Choose Van in the checker for your van's year and fuel, and confirm the registration on TfL's or GOV.UK's vehicle checker.
Are motorbikes charged in a clean air zone?
Only in London. The ULEZ charges a motorbike that does not meet Euro 3 (generally those registered after July 2007) £12.50 a day. No Clean Air Zone in England charges motorbikes. Oxford's separate Zero Emission Zone does charge a motorbike that is not zero-emission, £2 a day on its few central streets. Scotland's Low Emission Zones do not apply to motorbikes or mopeds. Choose Motorbike in the checker.
Is a diesel car worth buying if I drive into a clean air zone?
Only if it is Euro 6, which in practice means registered from about September 2015. An older diesel driven into a charging zone on a daily commute can cost over £2,000 a year — usually far more than you saved buying the older car in the first place.
What is the penalty for driving a non-compliant car into a Scottish Low Emission Zone?
There is no daily charge to pay: the registered owner is sent a Penalty Charge Notice. The first is £60, reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days. It doubles each time the same vehicle is driven in the same zone within 90 days, up to £480 for a car or light goods vehicle, and goes back to £60 after 90 days with no further charge. Only one notice can be issued per zone per day, and you cannot pay in advance. The zones in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including public holidays: petrol cars and vans must meet Euro 4 and diesel Euro 6, a hybrid is judged like a petrol or diesel car, and motorbikes, mopeds and fully electric vehicles are not covered. Check a registration on the Scottish Government's official Low Emission Zone vehicle checker before you drive in.

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