ELECTRIC car owners are set to pay higher parking fees than their petrol counterparts in parts of the capital.
London’s Islington council is already charging parked cars based on the motor’s weight, while other councils like Lambeth are considering it.
Getty – ContributorParking charges are based on weight in some parts of London[/caption]
The charges see electric cars generally pay more, as they typically weigh 20 per cent more than the petrol equivalents due to the battery.
Rezina Chowdhury, deputy leader of Lambeth council told The Times: “SUVs are getting bigger and bigger and electric SUVs are also getting heavier. This is going to have an impact on air [quality], on our roads and our infrastructure and that will be painful.
“People still talk about road tax as though it still exists but that money comes from councils repairing roads.”
In Islington, drivers are charged on a rising scale divided into seven bands.
The cost of an annual permit in the north London borough for a Hyundai Kona Electric with a 39 kWh battery is £100, but the fee rises to a top rate of £230 for cars with a battery size of 90kWh and more, such as a Tesla Model X.
Rowena Champion, executive member for environment, air quality and transport at Islington council, said: “The changes ensure that permit prices more accurately reflect the pollution that motor vehicles create and encourage local people, where possible, to switch to more sustainable forms of transport.”
A source at the council told The Times that electric vehicles with large batteries produce greater lifetime emissions and also fire other matter into the air with larger breaks and tyres.
New cars have grown an average of 10kg heavier and half a centimetre wider every year while a report found the average width of new cars is 180cm.
Paris is set to hold its own referendum on February 4 asking residents whether a specific tariff on SUVs should be introduced.
Lambeth also plans to reduce the number of kerbside parks by 25 per cent by 2030.
Edmund King, the president of the AA, said there were valid reasons cars have become larger, such as safety.
He said: “There were 8,000 road deaths in 1966 compared to less than one-quarter of that today.”
King said some local authorities would do anything to target cars, dubbing them the “anti-car brigade”.
He said: “Some drivers felt that their move to zero tailpipe emissions would keep them safe from snipers trying to tax them off the roads. It now appears that the goalposts for targeting larger cars have moved because parking spaces have not been widened to keep up with bigger vehicles.
“It seems that some local authorities will do anything to target cars no matter how clean or green. Taxation of cars based on size or weight seems to be the next big thing and where London leads, others seem to follow.
“Targeting these vehicles is regressive as we should be encouraging the take-up of electric vehicles and many of these so-called SUVs are actually family cars.”
Everything to know about electric cars
How long does it take to charge an electric car?
How much does it cost to charge an electric car?
Will electric cars get cheaper?
Are electric cars exempt from London’s ULEZ charge?
How do electric cars work?
Do electric cars have gears?
How long do electric car batteries last?
Check out all of our latest electric car news here
Getty Images – GettyParis will soon hold a referendum on charging SUVs and 4x4s for their size[/caption]