Updated October 2026

Ask any diesel driver in London whether their car is ULEZ compliant and you’ll usually get one of two answers: “It’s a 2016, so yes” or “It’s a 2014, so probably not.” Both answers are guesses, and the daily charge for getting it wrong is £12.50, correct at the time of writing.

This article gives you the actual rule, explains why the commonly quoted year cut-offs aren’t foolproof, and shows you the only way to know for certain: checking your registration number.

The short answer: your diesel needs to be Euro 6

To drive in London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone without paying the daily charge, a diesel car must meet the Euro 6 emissions standard. Euro 6 became mandatory for all new diesel cars sold in the UK from September 2015, so the rough guide you’ll see everywhere is: diesels registered from September 2015 onwards are compliant, earlier ones aren’t.

For comparison, petrol cars have an easier threshold, Euro 4, roughly cars registered from 2006 onwards, which is why so many more petrol cars sail through. But for diesels, the Euro 6 line cuts right through the middle of cars still in everyday use, so it pays to understand the details.

Why “registered in 2015” isn’t a guarantee

Here’s where the rough guide breaks down. The September 2015 date is when Euro 6 became mandatory, but emissions standards don’t switch overnight across every model:

• Some 2015 diesels are Euro 5. A car registered in, say, March 2015 was built and type-approved under the old rules. The registration year alone doesn’t make it Euro 6.
• Some pre-September 2015 diesels are Euro 6. Manufacturers started rolling out Euro 6 engines early, plenty of 2014-registered cars already met the standard. A 2014 diesel isn’t automatically non-compliant.
• Imports and grey imports can differ. A car first registered abroad and imported to the UK may have a different type-approval history than an identical-looking UK model.

The bottom line: the year gives you a probability, not an answer. A 2017 diesel is almost certainly Euro 6; a 2013 diesel is almost certainly not; but anything around 2014–2016 deserves a proper check rather than an assumption.

How to check your reg for certain

The definitive answer comes from your registration number, because compliance databases hold the actual type-approval data for your specific vehicle. It’s free and takes a minute:

1. Run your reg through CheckMyMOT’s free ULEZ compliance checker, enter the number plate and get a clear yes-or-no verdict for London’s ULEZ and the English clean air zones.
2. TfL’s own vehicle checker on the Transport for London website, which draws on the same underlying data.

Check before you drive into the zone, not after. The cameras don’t care that you thought your car was compliant, the charge applies, and the penalty for not paying is £180 (reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days), correct at the time of writing. If you’re checking because you’re about to buy a diesel, do this alongside reading the car’s MOT history, a compliant car with a neglected MOT record is still a bad buy.

The £12.50 daily charge, explained

London’s ULEZ covers all of Greater London, not just the centre, and runs 24 hours a day, 364 days a year (Christmas Day is the only exception). If your diesel isn’t compliant, every day you drive within the zone costs £12.50, and the charge applies to the vehicle, not the driver, so it follows the car whoever’s driving it.

You can pay up to 90 days in advance, or by midnight on the third day after your journey. TfL’s Auto Pay takes the charge automatically each month if you’d rather not think about it. But £12.50 a day adds up fast: drive in five days a week and you’re looking at over £3,000 a year, more than many older diesels are worth.

Your diesel isn’t compliant, what are your options?

If the checker gives you bad news, you have four realistic options:

1. Check whether any support is available

Be aware that London’s ULEZ scrappage scheme, which paid grants to scrap or retrofit non-compliant vehicles, closed to new applicants in September 2024, and there is no national government scrappage scheme in 2026. Some manufacturers run their own trade-in promotions from time to time, but these change constantly and are sales offers rather than entitlements. Don’t plan around a grant that may not exist.

2. Pay the charge when you need to

If you only drive into London occasionally, paying £12.50 per trip may simply be cheaper than changing cars. Run the numbers honestly for a year before deciding.

3. Avoid the zone

The ULEZ boundary is the Greater London boundary, park outside it and use public transport, or plan routes around it. Practical for occasional trips, miserable as a daily routine.

4. Change the car

For regular London drivers, a compliant car usually wins on cost within a year or two. If you’re shopping for a replacement diesel, verify its Euro 6 status from the reg before you buy, don’t take the advert’s word for it, and check the MOT history for the advisories and mileage patterns that reveal how it was maintained. A Euro 6 diesel that’s been neglected will still cost you, just at the garage instead of the toll camera. And when comparing replacements, remember that two similar cars can cost very different amounts to tax, run the reg through a VED calculator too.

What about diesel vans, minibuses and motorbikes?

The same Euro 6 principle applies, with slightly different dates:

• Diesel vans: need Euro 6, generally those registered from September 2016 onwards (a year later than cars).
• Petrol vans: need Euro 4, like petrol cars.
• Motorbikes: need Euro 3, generally bikes registered from July 2007 onwards.
• Heavier vehicles (over 3.5 tonnes) fall under London’s separate Low Emission Zone with much higher daily charges, up to £300 per day for the heaviest non-compliant lorries, correct at the time of writing.

The same advice holds: check the reg, don’t guess from the year. Our MOT guide explains how the annual test interacts with all of this, because an older diesel that passes its MOT can still be non-compliant for emissions zones, and vice versa.

Don’t guess the Euro standard

A diesel car is ULEZ compliant if it meets Euro 6, roughly registered from September 2015 onwards. But “roughly” has cost plenty of drivers £12.50 a time: some 2015 diesels are Euro 5, some 2014 diesels are already Euro 6. The only certain answer comes from checking your registration number, which is free and takes a minute. Do it before you drive into London, and before you buy your next diesel.