New diesel taxis will be banned in London from 2018 under the capital's Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) plans revealed by Transport for London (TfL).
Licenses will not be issued for diesel taxis from 2018 and all new taxis will have to be a fully electric or hybrid vehicles.
TfL has announced early requirements for taxis and minicabs as a part of the wider ULEZ plans to be introduced in 2020.
All taxis licensed for the first time must be Zero Emission Capable from January 2018, while for new private hire vehicles this deadline is January 2020.
The 15-year age limit for taxis will remain in place, but the decommissioning scheme will encourage cabbies to remove the oldest, most polluting vehicles from the fleet and upgrade to new zero emission capable taxis.
Funding to help cabbies hit the 2020 emission targets includes:
• £65m to help taxi drivers achieve a target of 9,000 zero emission capable taxis by 2020.
• Up to £5,000 for taxi drivers who want to decommission their vehicle once it reaches 10 years of age, with the exact amount depending on the age of the vehicle.
• A £5,000 plug-in car grant is available through the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), to which a £3,000 'top-up' grant can be added. The same OLEV plug-in grant is also available for private hire drivers.
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: 'The taxi and minicab trades have a crucial role to play in helping to improve London's air quality. This is why we have made them a central part of our Ultra Low Emission Zone plans.
'We understand this will take time and that is why we are giving financial assistance to help clean up these vehicle fleets.’
Garrett Emmerson, TfL's chief operating officer for surface transport, said: ‘The measures we are setting out will encourage owners of taxis and minicabs to take action now, and sets a course towards cleaner taxi and private hire trades and a cleaner London.'
The ULEZ emission standards will be in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the Congestion Charging zone. Drivers who do not comply will have to pay a daily charge.
