Oxford Zero Emission Zone
The Oxford zero emission zone is a small trial zone in the city centre. If your vehicle isn't zero emission, you pay a charge each day you drive there, between 7am and 7pm. How much you pay depends on how clean the vehicle is, from £2 up to £10 a day. Electric vehicles get in for nothing.
Oxford Zero Emission Zone
£2 to £10Every vehicle that isn't zero emission pays from 7am to 7pm: £4 if it meets Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel, £10 if it doesn't. Enter the year your car was first registered, or type its number plate, to see which.
Oxfordshire's official check and pay page reads the record held for your vehicle and gives the final answer.
Compare your vehicle across the UK's other zones
- London ULEZ£12.50 a day unless it meets the rules
- London lorry and large van zone (LEZ)Cars don't pay
- Birmingham£8 a day unless it meets the rules
- Bristol£9 a day unless it meets the rules
- BathCars don't pay
- BradfordCars don't pay
- SheffieldCars don't pay
- PortsmouthCars don't pay
- Newcastle and GatesheadCars don't pay
- Oxford£2 to £10 a day (electric cars don't pay)
- Glasgow£60 fine unless it meets the rules
- Edinburgh£60 fine unless it meets the rules
- Aberdeen£60 fine unless it meets the rules
- Dundee£60 fine unless it meets the rules
Oxford ZEZ charges by band
Vehicles fall into one of 4 bands. For most of them, the deciding figure is CO2, meaning the grams of carbon dioxide the vehicle gives off per kilometre. Your logbook, officially the V5C form, normally lists this number.
| Band | What counts | Daily charge |
|---|---|---|
| Zero emission | CO2 of 0 g/km | £0 |
| Ultra low emission | CO2 below 75 g/km | £2 |
| Low emission | Petrol meeting Euro 4, or diesel meeting Euro 6 | £4 |
| All other vehicles | Older or higher-polluting models | £10 |
Non-electric motorbikes and other two-wheelers pay £2 a day. These bands and charges come from Oxfordshire County Council.
Oxford Zero Emission Zone at a glance
- £2 to £10a day for a car, unless it meets the rules
- 7am to 7pmevery day
- £60penalty if you don't pay, £30 if paid early
- 28 February 2022when charging or enforcement began
These figures come from Oxfordshire County Council.
Oxford Zero Emission Zone boundary map
Which band applies to you?
Euro 4 and Euro 6 are emissions standards. They set the levels a new vehicle had to reach when it was made. Most petrol cars first registered from 2006 meet Euro 4. Most diesels first registered from September 2015 meet Euro 6.
On newer vehicles, the V5C may show the Euro standard in section D.2, according to TfL. A registration year can only give you a likely answer, since the official checkers go by the vehicle's own record.
Take a diesel first registered in March 2014. It lands in the £10 band, because most diesels built then fall short of Euro 6.
Charging times and payment
The charge applies from 7am to 7pm, every day of the week, weekends included. Drive outside those hours and there's nothing to pay.
You can pay any time from 6 days before the day you enter the zone until 6 days after. Pay inside that window and no fine will follow for that day.
What happens if you skip payment?
Drive in without paying and a penalty charge notice arrives. That's the formal fine posted to the vehicle's owner. It starts at £60, dropping to £30 if you settle within 14 days. Once 28 days pass, a charge certificate pushes it up to £90, as the council's fines page explains.
| Payment timing | Amount |
|---|---|
| First 14 days | £30 |
| Days 15 to 28 | £60 |
| Past 28 days | £90 |
Questions people ask
Where does the Oxford zero emission zone sit?
It covers a small trial patch of streets right in the heart of the city. Using the council's own data, this site's zone page traces the boundary over the main roads, and it also points you to the council's zoomable map for a closer look at your own road.
When did charging begin?
The first charges went out on 28 February 2022.
Is there a congestion charge in Oxford?
The daily charge drivers face in Oxford's city centre is this zone charge. The Congestion Charge is a separate London scheme, run by TfL, at £18 per day.
How does this differ from a Clean Air Zone?
It's not the same thing. Clean Air Zones, like those in Birmingham and Bristol, only bill vehicles that fall short of a standard. Oxford bills every vehicle that isn't zero emission, including ones that would pass in those cities. That same 2014 diesel costs £8 per day in Birmingham, £9 in Bristol and £10 here.