Plenty of drivers judge a week by what landed in the account on Monday. That number tells you very little on its own. What matters is what is left after the car, the charges and the platform have taken their cut. Here is a framework for working out your real position – with the London charges that are fixed, and space for the numbers only you know.
The costs that are the same for everyone
Congestion Charge
Private hire vehicles are not exempt. From 2 January 2026 the charge is £18 a day paid on the day, or £21 if you pay within three days. If you drive an electric car and register it on Auto Pay, the Cleaner Vehicle Discount takes 25 per cent off, bringing it to £13.50 a day. Not on Auto Pay means no discount, so this is one of the easiest savings available to you.
Five days a week inside the zone is roughly £90 a week, or £67.50 on the electric discount. Over a year that gap is well over £1,000.
Tunnels and other charges
The Blackwall and Silvertown tunnel charges apply to private hire vehicles too. If your work regularly takes you across the river in that direction, count those crossings honestly rather than hoping they average out.
Licensing
TfL fees are £138 to apply plus £205 on grant for your driver licence, and £84 plus £56 for the vehicle. They are not weekly costs, but they are real – divide them across the life of the licence and put the money aside.
The costs only you can fill in
Take a quiet twenty minutes and write down your own figures for a typical week:
- Vehicle – your hire or lease payment.
- Energy or fuel – and be honest about where you charge. Public rapid charging costs multiples of home charging.
- Insurance – if it is not included in your hire agreement.
- Platform service fee – take it from your own statements, not from what someone told you in a queue at the airport.
- Cleaning, valeting, phone, data – small, constant, and easy to forget.
- Maintenance and tyres – if you lease, this is yours. Set aside a weekly amount rather than meeting it as a shock.
- Tax set-aside – you are self-employed. Put a percentage away every week.
The number that actually matters
Divide what is left after all of the above by the hours you actually worked, including waiting time. That is your true hourly rate. Most drivers who do this exercise for the first time are surprised – usually because of unpaid waiting hours, public charging, or a mileage overage they never priced in.
Once you know that number you can make real decisions: whether to work different hours, whether to avoid or accept zone jobs, and whether hiring or leasing is costing you more than it should.
We will run the numbers with you
Bring your figures and we will go through them honestly, including whether your current vehicle arrangement is the right one.
Call 020 3633 9447 or book a free consultation.
Charges correct as of August 2026. Check tfl.gov.uk for the current rates.