ULEZ exemption - a guide

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Charles
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ULEZ exemption - a guide

Post by Charles » Fri Dec 09, 2022 1:09 pm

This guide has been produced to summarise all the useful information that can be found in the detailed discussion on "ULEZ - older Alpinas" - which contains all the information you need to establish whether your older Alpina (pre-Euro4 for Petrol and pre-Euro6 for Diesel) is actually NOx compliant for the various ULEZs around the UK.

Please read the thread carefully as all the answers are there but, in summary:

1. Your car must have NOx emissions less than or equal to the Euro4 (Petrol) or Euro6 (Diesel) threshold which is 0.08g/km (Petrol and Diesel) in order to be treated as exempt in the ULEZ

2. You will need to obtain an official emissions letter from Alpina (classic@alpina.de) which will cost approx £65 (70 euros) - they will need your full Alpina VIN and a copy of your V5 before confirming this to you, after which you can decide to purchase (or not)

3. You then need to register with TfL (or other councils operating a ULEZ) and submit a copy of the letter and your V5 (all four pages) in order for them to manually register your car as ULEZ-exempt


DVLA

It appears that it may be possible to update the Euro classification of your car via DVLA using the following online enquiry form. From my discussions, DVLA are able to update the classification - even though the car was built before the Euro4 (Petrol) or Euro6 (diesel) start date!) which would then make it ULEZ exempt in all areas (present or future). Joined up government, perhaps?

UPDATE - 01/06/23
After going round the houses several times on this, it appears that the CAZ online form (linked above) only allows a single file upload (even though they ask for two documents!!!). I have got round this by sending my V5C together with the emissions certificate from Alpina and a covering letter to DVLA to get them to record the NOx emissions level on the V5C. Then you can send the updated V5C to CAZ support and get them to update the ULEZ Vehicle Checker records to show that the car is ULEZ exempt. What a rigmarole!



Some useful links:

London ULEZ: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/compli ... -you-start

Bristol ULEZ: Email cazsupport@bristol.gov.uk with copies of your V5 and emissions letter and explain the situation - dealt with on a case-by-case basis


Please use the discussion thread for posts - if I need to then I will update this guide as required.
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order ;)
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!

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Re: ULEZ exemption - a guide

Post by Charles » Mon Jun 19, 2023 8:53 am

After 6 months, I appear to have cracked the system. It's a lot more complicated than it needs to be but it is achievable

Here is what I did:

ALPINA Emissions Certificate:
1. Contact classic@alpina.de and ask them to confirm the NOx emissions for your vehicle - they will want a copy of your V5C for this and use your ALPINA VIN in the email as reference
2. Once you know that the NOx value is less than 0.08g/km (the ULEZ threshold for both petrol and diesel cars), then ask to buy an Emissions Certificate
3. They will send you an invoice and you will need to arrange a Euro payment to their bank (relatively straightforward I found using my banking app)
4. Once payment is received, they will send an electronic and paper copy of the certificate that you can start to use (see below)

For TfL:
1. Go to the ULEZ page and use this link to apply for exemption
2. Set up an account and register your car on that account
3. Upload them a full copy of your V5C (all 4 pages), a copy of the Emissions Certificate and a covering letter that explains that your car is an "early adopter so please ignore the Euro3 classification and look at the NOx emissions value which satisfies the ULEZ requirements" - or words to that effect
4. Remember to check your email to verify it with TfL so that you can receive updates
5. In theory, wait 10 days and they will update the TfL computers to recognise your car/plate as ULEZ-exempt
6. However, it all depends on who is looking at your paperwork and you may need to (very gently) nudge things along and help them understand

For DVLA (all non-London ULEZ areas - currently only Bristol and Birmingham for cars as these are Cat D zones)
1. This is where it gets more complicated - but it really shouldn't
2. The DVLA ask you to use this link BUT it only allows you one document to upload when you need to send TWO and as soon as you send a second enquiry it confuses them completely
3. You might try and combine the two documents into one PDF but I lost the will to live on this so went "Route 2"
4. Route 2 involves sending your V5C along with your Emissions certificate and a covering letter to DVLA, asking them to update your V5C to show the NOx emissions - not sure if there is an email option for this
5. Once you get your new V5C back (beware, this took me almost 6 weeks for no obvious reason) then contact CAZ support (link above) and submit the new V5C along with a clear explanation of what you want them to do and that your V5C clearly states the NOx value (words of one syllable are recommended here to keep it really simple as they default to seeing Euro3 and reject the application) and they should update the CAZ computers (which don't talk to DVLA computers it appears, even though it is all the same organisation).

Hope this helps
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order ;)
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!

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