Sadiq Khan has demanded Volkswagen pay £2.5mn to Transport for London to compensate congestion charge money lost following the “dieselgate” scandal.
The mayor of London has written to the car giant asking them to reimburse the millions of pounds missed from vehicles which were believed to be greener than they actually were.
The emissions scandal saw German firm VW admit 11mn cars worldwide had been fitted with devices which detected when the car was undergoing testing and switched the engines to a “cleaner” mode.
There are around 80,000 VW cars registered in London which are believed to have the device.
In a letter to VW, Khan said there was “no excuse for the utter lack of action” the car company has taken in London since the “dieselgate” scandal broke.
He said: “I want to see a proper commitment from them to fully compensate the thousands of Londoners who bought VW cars in good faith, but whose diesel engines are now contributing to London’s killer air.
“I also urge them to reimburse TfL the £2.5mn lost in Congestion Charge revenue, which I will use to fund a new schools air quality programme that will reduce the exposure and raise the awareness of schoolchildren in London attending schools in the most polluted areas.”
It is estimated the equivalent of up to 9,400 deaths occur each year in London due to illnesses caused by long-term exposure to air pollution, with 448 London schools in areas exceeding legal air quality levels The mayor has also asked VW for a progress update on their commitment to re-programme the defeat devices in affected vehicles and the expected completion date.