Nearly 700,000 cars in London will be hit with a charge once the Ultra Low Emission Zone expands in August, according to the RAC. 

The RAC have published a report using data from the DVLA which shows that a total of 691,559 licensed cars in the capital were either petrol cars first registered prior to January 2006 or diesel cars first registered prior to September 2015 - and so would be subject to the £12.50 daily ULEZ charge after the expansion. 

This number increases further when taking into account all types of vehicles, there were 851,065 non-compliant vehicles registered within ULEZ. 

TfL currently estimates that circa 160,000 non-compliant cars per day drive through the area which will become the ULEZ from August, but only 85% of cars in just the outer London areas which ULEZ is expanding into are compliant with ULEZ, compared to 90.5% for all of Greater London. 

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: "Cleaning up London's air should undoubtedly be a priority, but the sheer number of vehicles that don't meet ULEZ emissions standards in Greater London suggests there will be a massive financial impact on motorists and businesses through having to fork out £12.50 every day they drive in the zone. 

"We desperately need more co-ordination between the Mayor and the Government to help small businesses, tradespeople, NHS staff and carers who have no choice but to drive into the expanded ULEZ for work purposes from outside Greater London. 

"Consideration should also be given to those who work at night when public transport is greatly reduced in the outer boroughs. 

"Changing to a compliant vehicle at such short notice simply won't be something many will be able to afford, especially during a cost-of-living crisis and at a time when second-hand car prices are so high. 

"We need more creativity from London's Mayor and his team to help people out as the current scrappage scheme is akin to using a plughole to drain an Olympic-sized swimming pool – it's simply not big enough for the scale of the job. 

"We believe he should consider introducing an additional one-year sunset period for certain key workers or a scheme where TfL partners with a leasing company to provide discounted, ULEZ-compliant vehicles to smaller businesses or traders, enabling them to avoid daily charges while still reducing roadside emissions."