MINI One D and Cooper D Exempted from London Congestion Charge

The British division of MINI announced today that two of its models comply with London’s new Greener Vehicle Discount scheme. This means the MINI One D and MINI Cooper D Hatch models will be eligible for standard free of charge entry into the London Congestion Charge Zone from January 2011, as the cars emit just 99g of CO2 per kilometre.

“The replacement of the Alternative Fuel Discount with the new Greener Vehicle Discount recognises that technological advances in traditional engine development are such that many vehicles which did not qualify for the Alternative Fuel Discount have a much better environmental performance than those that did qualify,” a company statement reads.

Both variants comply with the EU5 emission standard and they achieve the same fuel consumption of 74.3 mpg (3.16 l/100km). Also, the cars employ a host of fuel-saving and emission-lowering technology including Brake Energy Regeneration, Auto Start-Stop, Gearshift Indicator and Electromechanical Power Steering.

The aforementioned technologies, accompanied by the standard six-speed manual gearbox, lead to an impressive fuel economy while minimizing tailpipe emissions.

“MINI has been the quintessential London car for the last 51 years, so we welcome this week’s news that our two cleanest and most efficient models can zip around the city free of charge. These models will join the 40 Congestion Charge exempt, zero emission, all electric MINI Es which are currently on trial in the south east of the country,” Jochen Goller, Director, MINI UK said in a release.

In order to benefit from the tax exemption, customers have to register with Transport for London for the discount and make an annual GBP10 payment per vehicle.