Fleet ULEZ Checker: Work Out Your Daily Exposure and Which Vehicles to Replace First

You probably know the ULEZ charge exists. What you may not know is what your own non-compliant vehicles cost you each year. Here is how to use a ULEZ checker across your fleet, put a number on the exposure and decide what goes first.

What is ULEZ and which vehicles does it affect?

According to TfL, the ULEZ is a £12.50 daily charge for driving a non-compliant car, van, motorcycle or specialist vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes, or a minibus up to 5 tonnes, in London. It has covered every borough and the City of London since 29 August 2023, and runs every day except Christmas Day.

Compliance depends on the Euro standard, not age: Euro 4 for petrol, Euro 6 for diesel, Euro 3 for motorcycles. Registration dates are only a guide. TfL’s guide dates are September 2015 for cars and light vans and September 2016 for larger vans up to 3.5 tonnes, so an older diesel van is one to check, not assume.

ULEZ charge: what fleet operators actually pay

The charge falls per vehicle on each day it is driven in the zone, not per trip. A charging day runs midnight to midnight, so a shift that crosses midnight costs two charges. Miss the payment deadline and the penalty charge notice is £180, or £90 if paid within 14 days.

Checking ULEZ compliance across a fleet, one vehicle at a time

To find out which of your vehicles are the problem, you check them one registration at a time. Traknova’s free ULEZ checker takes one plate per lookup, with no bulk upload.

Keep a simple register: registration, fuel, Euro standard (from the V5C where listed, or GOV.UK’s vehicle enquiry service), result and date checked. Do the diesels first, because they are the likeliest to fail, and update the register whenever you buy or sell. If a result looks wrong, our guide to a ULEZ checker saying not compliant covers what to do.

Then register every vehicle with TfL’s Auto Pay (up to 5 vehicles) or Fleet Auto Pay (6 or more). Both are free and protect you from penalty notices while registered. TfL bills monthly and charges ULEZ only for non-compliant vehicles driven in the zone. Fleet Auto Pay applications can take up to 10 working days, so apply early.

Calculating your fleet’s total ULEZ exposure

Exposure is non-compliant vehicles, times £12.50, times the days each is driven in the zone. For five vehicles driven in the zone 250 days a year: 5 × £12.50 × 250 = £15,625. That is our arithmetic on an assumed 250 working days, not a TfL figure, so use your own numbers.

Count only days a vehicle is driven. A vehicle parked in the zone is not charged, so a car on a forecourt or idle in a yard adds nothing, and a rental or dealer fleet usually has fewer chargeable days than a taxi. There is no charge on 25 December either. Work it per vehicle, not as a fleet average: a van with two London drops a week costs a fraction of a PCO car on night shifts.

Which non-compliant vehicles to replace first

Replace by annual cost, not age. A vehicle’s cost of staying is its days in the zone times £12.50, so the one that drives into London most days goes first, and one that rarely enters may be cheaper to keep and pay for. TfL’s monthly charging-day record (Fleet Auto Pay) or your own journey records gives you each vehicle’s number. On day one it comes from your own bookings or journey records, as TfL’s record starts once you are registered.

A compliant replacement does not have to be new or electric. A second-hand Euro 6 diesel van meets the standard, and leasing is another route. If you do go electric, the government van grant takes up to £2,500 off some small vans and up to £5,000 off some large ones, applied at the point of sale on new eligible vans, though availability is limited. Electric is ULEZ compliant but not free of the Congestion Charge: TfL’s central London Congestion Charge is now £13.50 a day for electric cars and £9 for electric vans, at the discounted rate only if you are registered for Auto Pay.

Options for managing non-compliant vehicles in your fleet

The TfL scrappage scheme is closed. It closed to new applicants on 8 September 2024.

Retrofit is narrow: equipment must be certified, and TfL’s certified retrofit list does not currently include cars. All vehicles built before 1 January 1973 are exempt, and a Congestion Charge discount does not carry over to the ULEZ. That leaves a choice per vehicle: pay the charge through Auto Pay, replace it, or go electric.

ULEZ and taxi and PCO operators

For London-licensed taxis, licensing sets the renewal clock: 12 years for older diesel taxis and 15 for Euro 6 diesel or zero emission capable ones. Any private hire vehicle licensed for the first time since 1 January 2023 must be zero emission capable and Euro 6.

What journey records show about your vehicles in London

TfL finds vehicles with number plate cameras, so a charge only says a plate was seen on a given day. Your own location history is the other side of that record. Traknova’s hardwired trackers keep up to 12 months of trip history showing route, speed and stops, and digital tracking on many vehicles from 2016 onwards records trips too. Set against your charging days, it shows which vehicles drive into London most and lets you check a charge against the trip.

It is evidence, not a defence. TfL lists a tracker report as proof that the vehicle in a penalty notice image is not yours.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to pay the ULEZ charge?

By midnight on the third day after the journey, or up to 90 days in advance. Auto Pay or Fleet Auto Pay takes the deadline out of your hands.

Who gets the penalty notice if a driver or hirer was at fault?

The registered keeper. An employee driving is no defence. A hire firm can pass liability to a hirer only with a hire agreement that meets TfL’s rules and runs under six months.

Can I change or refund a charge I have paid?

TfL charges £2.50 to amend a charge. Refunds are for future dates only, with a £10 administration charge, and single day charges cannot be refunded.

Do vans and lorries over 3.5 tonnes pay the ULEZ charge?

No. Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, and buses and coaches over 5 tonnes, pay no ULEZ charge. They come under the separate Low Emission Zone and pay there only if they miss its standard.

Next step

What decides the order is cost: rank the vehicles that fail by what they cost you a year, not by age. Start with the free ULEZ checker, one registration at a time, then run the sum above on the ones that fail. When you want every vehicle and where it has been in one place, see how Traknova helps run a fleet.