SUV drivers to pay more tax and fees in London?
Members of the London Assembly have urged The city's mayor, Sadiq Khan, to raise taxes and parking fees paid by SUV drivers in the capital. The Assembly is an elected body responsible for ensuring that the Mayor of London and his advisers carry out their duties in the interest of Londoners.
The 25 members of the Assembly voted in favour of increasing vehicle excise duty and parking charges for larger vehicles, including SUV's. The result of the vote was 14 in favour and eight against.
Elly Baker, the London Assembly member who proposed the motion to bring in the changes, commented that SUVs' greater size, weight and bonnet height present an increased risk to vulnerable road users, as well as taking up more parking space and increasing wear on road surfaces.
Ms Baker said, "It's time we took sensible steps to manage the impact of oversized cars and ensure our streets remain safe and accessible."
A spokesman for Sadiq Khan responded, "The mayor, Transport for London and borough partners are working to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on our roads, by expanding the cycle network, making road crossings and junctions safer, reducing speed limits on our roads, and making larger vehicles like HGVs and buses safer.
"This year the mayor will be refreshing his Vision Zero action plan, external to restate his commitment to reducing road danger and responding to new and emerging risks on our roads."
AA celebrates 120 years of service
2025 sees the Automobile Association celebrating its 120th anniversary. The AA was founded in 1905 by William Bosworth in response to the Motor Car Act 1903, a piece of landmark legislation that introduced penalties for exceeding speed limits and for reckless driving. Penalties included fines, endorsements and possible prison sentences. The association's initial mission was to help motorists avoid police speed traps. This aim sometimes brought the association and the police into conflict and, in 1909, an AA patrolman was convicted of obstructing the police by warning motorists of a speed trap.
The AA occasionally took on the task of erecting road signs before the responsibility was assigned to local authorities. It also set up some of the country's first petrol filling stations.
The role of the AA has evolved. It is now best known for providing roadside assistance to members who encounter problems while driving. The organisation is also a campaign group, raising issues that affect motorists.
The AA now has 14 million members. When counting both business and private members, its best-known competing service provider, the RAC, has a similar level of membership.
Government to provide up to £3,750 discount to encourage sales of new electric vehicles
On 16th July 2025, the UK government introduced grants that will reduce the cost of some new electric cars by up to £3,750. The move is part of the government's mission to encourage drivers to abandon petrol and diesel cars in favour of electric vehicles (EVs). The government's plan is to ban the sale of new fully petrol or diesel cars from 2030.
The new discounts, between £1,500 and £3,750, are available for the purchase of eligible vehicles priced at up to £37,000. The more environmentally friendly a vehicle is, the greater the discount will be, according to the Department for Transport, with the most environmentally friendly vehicles seeing the biggest reductions, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
Carmakers can apply for funding now and the RAC reports that discounted vehicles should be delivered to dealerships within weeks.
A provisional list of eligible vehicles has been published on the Electriccarscheme.com website.
June sees high EV sales
Carwow reports that June was a good month for UK EV sales. A quarter of cars bought were battery electric vehicles, with electric cars making up one in every four cars bought. That's an increase from last year of 39.1% to 47,354 units sold.
Plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) sales are also growing in popularity, increasing 28.8% to 21,382 units compared to last year, while petrol and diesel cars are mostly steady or declining, with sales of petrol cars dropping 4.2%. Sales of petrol cars were down 4.2% compared to the same period in 2024.
(In the table below, BEV refers to battery electric vehicles, and HEV to hybrid electric vehicles.)
| Type | 2025 | 2024 | % change | Market share ’25 | Market share ’24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel | 10,716 | 10,696 | 0.20% | 5.60% | 6% |
| Petrol | 88,029 | 91,874 | -4.20% | 46% | 51.30% |
| BEV | 47,354 | 34,034 | 39.10% | 24.80% | 19% |
| PHEV | 21,282 | 16,604 | 28.80% | 11.20% | 9.30% |
| HEV | 23,835 | 26,055 | -8.50% | 12.50% | 14.50% |
| Total | 191,316 | 179,263 | 6.70% | – | – |
June's car sales overall were up 6.7% and 191,316 new cars appeared on the road, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
