France Begins Divorce Proceedings Against Diesel

Cameron Aubernon
by Cameron Aubernon

For the longest time, France loved the diesel. Alas, the thrill has gone away.

Just-Auto reports the French government introduced a program aimed at removing the most polluting vehicles — diesel-powered passenger vehicles in particular — from the roadways, along with provisions for local officials to limit access to said vehicles. Prime minister Manuel Valls laid it out as such:

In France, we have long favoured the diesel engine. This was a mistake, and we will progressively undo that, intelligently and pragmatically.

Presently, 80 percent of the nation’s drivers operate diesel-powered vehicles, thanks to the lower price for the fuel over gasoline. Thus, to encourage them to consider more eco-friendly options, the government will raise the excise tax on diesel to €2 ($2.50 USD) per liter, and will begin in 2015 to identify vehicles by the amount of pollution they produce. Further, energy minister Segolene Royal introduced earlier in 2014 a tax credit of up to €10,000 ($13,500) for exchanging their diesels for an electric vehicle, while other subsidies linked to the new plan will help drivers in anti-pollution areas convert their old diesels.

Cameron Aubernon
Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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  • Sector 5 Sector 5 on Dec 02, 2014

    The ghost of Clemenceau. Does Germany sell the most passenger diesel?

  • Claytori Claytori on Dec 02, 2014

    Are they sure those headlights are big enough?

    • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Dec 03, 2014

      The only thing I'm against on this concept is the million-spoke wheels, as so many spokes are too hard to keep clean, and it takes ages.

  • Spw Spw on Dec 03, 2014

    What needs to be said in the article is that France, as many other European countries, has much lower taxes on diesel than on petrol fuel. What they are planning to do eventually is to even out the taxes, and then low sulphur diesel is actually going to be 10% more expensive than petrol in France.

  • Gedrven Gedrven on May 27, 2015

    The credit towards exchanging a diesel for an electric is a step in the wrong direction, IMO. Instead of working on the NOx problem with safe and proven technology (urea injection), they're increasing reliance on the electrical grid, which in France is mostly nuclear. As far as pollution goes, I'd rather live in Los Angeles than Fukushima.

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