More than 40 businesses have signed an open letter to ask the mayor of London to extend the congestion charge exemption for electric vans.
Their special status means they currently pay nothing – but from Christmas the charge would be £15 a day.
Signatories, including Ocado, the AA and the Federation of Small Businesses, argue the charge – which would add up to £5,500 per vehicle per year – would undermine firms who had “taken on debt to invest in the air we breathe”.
City Hall said it was working with Transport for London to “see what more could be done to mitigate the effect of this phasing out and further incentivise businesses to make the switch to cleaner vehicles”.
