The best ULEZ compliant cars

The best ULEZ compliant cars to lease

TL;DR: Which cars are ULEZ compliant?

Any new car – which means any new lease you take out – is ULEZ compliant. Euro 6 is the minimum for all new cars on sale in the UK, which hits the ULEZ standard.

Some of the best include:

• Volvo EX30
• Polestar 4
• MG S6
• Volkswagen Tiguan
• Renault Clio E-Tech
• BYD SEALION 5
• Hyundai Tuscon

London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has been running since 2019

By now, most drivers in the capital have either sorted their car, or quietly accepted they’re paying £12.50 every time they drive within it.

If you’re in the second camp and starting to do the maths, you’re in the right place.

Whether you want to go fully electric or keep a combustion engine as a backup, there are some genuinely strong lease options right now – and getting behind the wheel is simpler than you might think.

What makes a car ULEZ compliant?

ULEZ compliance comes down to your car’s emissions standard: Euro 4 for petrol engines, Euro 6 for diesel.

Electric cars (EVs) are completely exempt from the ULEZ charge, since they produce zero tailpipe emissions. Hybrid cars – including plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and full hybrids – are assessed on the basis of their combustion engine.

As long as that meets Euro 4 (petrol) or Euro 6 (diesel), they’re in the clear.

Not all older hybrids will be compliant. Any car manufactured and registered since 2015 will generally meet the standards, but it’s worth checking rather than assuming.

The quickest way to confirm is Transport for London’s vehicle checker at tfl.gov.uk – enter your registration and you’ll have an answer in seconds.

Are new lease cars always ULEZ compliant?

Any new car on sale in the UK today must meet at a minimum Euro 6, so if you’re leasing new, ULEZ compliance is one thing you can cross off the list before you’ve even started.

This is one of the more underrated advantages of car leasing: You’re always driving a new car. 

No surprises when you pull up at the zone boundary, no annual anxiety about whether your car still makes the cut.

The best ULEZ compliant electric cars 

Electric cars don’t just pass ULEZ – they bypass the charge entirely.

To be clear, the ULEZ charge and the London Congestion Charge are two different things. Since December 2025, EVs are no longer exempt from the Congestion Charge during operating hours. You do still get some money off with the Cleaner Vehicle Discount, so you’ll pay £13.50 per day to enter the zone (as long as your EV is registered for Auto Pay). 

The ULEZ exemption, however, remains fully in place for zero-emission vehicles.

With that in mind, here are three electric cars we’d put at the top of our list right now:

Volvo EX30

The Volvo EX30 is the Swedish brand’s smallest electric car, and arguably one of the most satisfying to drive in a city.

It’s compact enough to navigate London without wanting to cry about it, but the interior doesn’t feel like you’ve been squeezed into a sardine tin. Volvo has done something clever with the space, and the cabin feels considerably larger than the exterior suggests.

Range comes in at up to 298 miles (WLTP Comb), with rapid charging capability bringing the battery from 10-80% in around 26 minutes.

Lease prices are competitive for a premium nameplate, and the whole package – build quality, infotainment, driving feel – punches well above what the monthly payment would imply.

Browse our latest Volvo EX30 lease deals

Polestar 4 

The Polestar 4 is not a subtle car.

It’s a large fastback SUV coupe with no rear window – Polestar replaced it with a camera display – and a range of up to 385 miles (WLTP Comb) on the Long Range Single Motor. 

It’s Polestar doing what Polestar does best: Producing something unmistakably Scandinavian, slightly unusual, and very difficult to stop thinking about once you’ve seen one.

For drivers after genuine performance from their lease, the 4 delivers.

It’s brisk, refined, and the interior quality is hard to argue with. Monthly payments reflect the premium positioning, but for what you’re getting over the course of a lease, it represents strong value.

Browse our latest Polestar 4 lease deals

MG S6

MG has spent the past few years quietly building one of the most competitive electric ranges on the market, and the MG S6 is their latest addition.

It’s a large SUV – comparable in size to a Tesla Model Y or Kia EV6 – but undercuts both considerably on price.

The interior is spacious, the standard spec is generous for the money, it carries a five-star Euro NCAP rating, and the Long Range can do up to 329 miles (WLTP Comb) on a single charge.

If you want a lot of electric car without paying a lot for it, the S6 makes the case well.

Browse our latest MG S6 lease deals

The best ULEZ compliant hybrid cars

Most modern hybrids are ULEZ compliant, but unlike EVs, they don’t get any Cleaner Vehicle discount in London’s Congestion Charge zone.

You’ll still pay £18 a day to enter the zone, which roughly runs in a circle from Marylebone to Whitechapel, and from Lambeth to Angel.

What hybrids do offer is a significant reduction in running costs versus a conventional petrol or diesel. And for drivers not ready to commit fully to electric, a strong hybrid is a practical middle ground.

These four are some of our favourites to lease right now.

Volkswagen Tiguan

There’s a reason the Volkswagen Tiguan is one of the UK’s best-selling family SUVs – the eHybrid version gives you another one.

Both variants offer an official electric range of around 75 miles (WLTP Comb), which for most drivers means the 1.5-litre petrol engine barely gets involved during the working week. When it does, the transition between the two is smooth enough that you’ll barely notice it.

The home charging time is around three hours on a 7kW wallbox, and public fast charging is supported at up to 40kW.

It’s a well-rounded package, too: A practical boot, a well-equipped interior, and a competitive monthly lease cost.

The popular choice, with good reason.

Browse our latest Volkswagen Tiguan lease deals

Renault Clio E-Tech

Not everyone needs an SUV, and the Renault Clio E-Tech is an excellent reminder of that.

It’s a full hybrid – no plug-in charging required – with an official rating of up to 67mpg (WLTP Comb). In city traffic, where the electric component does most of the donkey work, it’s hushed and efficient.

Lease prices are competitive too, and it’s comfortably one of the most affordable cars on this list.

The Clio E-Tech is nimble, well-priced, and a natural fit for urban driving.

If ULEZ compliance without spending a lot is the brief, the Clio nails it.

Browse our latest Renault Clio E-Tech lease deals

BYD SEALION 5

BYD arrived in the UK in 2023, took one look at what the current PHEVs on the market cost, and decided to do it differently.

The BYD SEALION 5 gets you 53 miles of electric range (WLTP Comb), a cabin with vegan leather as standard, and enough space that six-footers will be perfectly comfortable in the front and rear.

The six-year/100,000-mile warranty is longer than most rivals offer, which tells you something about how confident BYD is in what it’s built.

Newer name, familiar formula. Worth more than a passing glance.

Browse our latest BYD SEALION 5 lease deals

Hyundai Tucson

The Hyundai Tucson doesn’t really do surprises.

What it does do is a 620-litre boot, an official 49.6mpg (WLTP Comb) rating from the full hybrid, and a five-year/unlimited-mileage warranty that many rivals don’t match.

The Tucson PHEV adds 43 miles of electric range (WLTP Comb) for those who want to keep the petrol engine largely out of the picture during the working week.

It’s the family SUV equivalent of a well-packed bag; nothing flashy, everything you actually need.

Browse our latest Hyundai Tucson lease deals

How to check if your car is ULEZ compliant

TfL’s vehicle checker does it in seconds; enter your registration plate and you’ll know immediately.

As a general rule, any car registered in the UK from 2015 onwards should comply. If you drive a diesel, it’s still worth checking: Euro 6 wasn’t mandatory for all new diesels until September 2015, so there’s a small window where older diesels might fall short.

If your current car doesn’t meet the standards and you’re regularly driving in London, the daily charge accumulates quickly – especially if you’re adding the Congestion Charge on top.

If that’s you, a new lease and no daily ULEZ charge might just work out for the best.