I lived in London and took my car with me, because as it was an EV, I could get a free parking permit for it and I was exempt from the emissions tax. Honestly, the driving experience in London is terrible. When I did a few back-and-forth trips when moving between a temporary hotel and my house, it'd take 40 minutes each way to drive 3 miles through central London. It would almost have been quicker to walk, and certainly much quicker on the underground.
I ended up only using my car a handful of times the whole year, and only when I was leaving London to visit family. I lived near the A40 expressway, so going north wasn't too problematic, but going south would usually take an hour to do the first 10 miles out of London.
If I'd stayed in London, I'd definitely have got rid of the car entirely now. There's just not much use for it when public transport is good, or when things are close enough to walk (I'd usually prefer to walk most places that were within an hour's walk).
What I do see as unfair in London now is that the costs of driving are extremely punitive if you don't have an EV, and this year they massively extended the area which is chargeable. It's simply not economically viable for most people to replace a car in these cases, as they probably don't get much use anyway, but also for any non-residents, it's also extremely easy to accidentally enter a chargeable area and then you're hit with a massive charge for the day.
I think central London is actually a pretty great place to drive if you can afford it.
Westminster council doesn't tow, so you never have to look for a parking spot.
Unlike some other European cities, the odds of being harassed by police while driving are essentially non-existent. Your car can be registered in Serbia and you won't be constantly pulled over and harassed like you would be in Germany, Netherlands, France or Spain.
I even spent a month driving around without any registration plates and nobody said anything (they had been stolen, I had to physically go collect new ones from another country).
From .gov.uk
Decide if a vehicle is abandoned
Authorities must decide if a vehicle is abandoned. This is likely if at least one of the following applies:
it has no keeper on DVLA’s database and is untaxed - check vehicle tax online
it’s stationary for a significant amount of time
it’s significantly damaged, run down or unroadworthy, for example has flat tyres, missing wheels or broken windows
it’s burned out
a number plate is missing
They can legally enter land (at a reasonable time) to investigate and remove abandoned vehicles
I ended up only using my car a handful of times the whole year, and only when I was leaving London to visit family. I lived near the A40 expressway, so going north wasn't too problematic, but going south would usually take an hour to do the first 10 miles out of London.
If I'd stayed in London, I'd definitely have got rid of the car entirely now. There's just not much use for it when public transport is good, or when things are close enough to walk (I'd usually prefer to walk most places that were within an hour's walk).
What I do see as unfair in London now is that the costs of driving are extremely punitive if you don't have an EV, and this year they massively extended the area which is chargeable. It's simply not economically viable for most people to replace a car in these cases, as they probably don't get much use anyway, but also for any non-residents, it's also extremely easy to accidentally enter a chargeable area and then you're hit with a massive charge for the day.