Paris To Charge Higher Parking Fees for Large Vehicles and SUVs
The entire world is seeking ways to mitigate climate change, but big changes don’t always slide by without some pushback from the public. Some European capitals will ban certain types of vehicles, and others have devised taxes and fees to incentivize driving less. Paris sees tens of thousands of cars on its roads each day, and city leaders recently approved a plan to increase parking fees.
Electric vehicle owners will benefit from the lowest parking fees, while SUV owners will see higher chargers starting in January 2024. One council member said that the new fees would depend on the size and weight of the vehicle, with one bemoaning the rise of “auto-besity,” the alarming upward trend of vehicle sizes in recent years.
Other cities in France have taken similar measures, though the European Union’s overall EV plans are more aggressive. The group approved an end date of 2035 for gas vehicle sales, and climate policies before then are driving automakers to build EVs at an increasing rate.
That said, some countries have pushed for more cautious actions, with Germany asking for a provision allowing gas vehicle sales as long as they can run on synthetic fuels. Porsche has a synthetic fuel factory in South America, and some racing series have signed on for the ride, but there are no currently available synthetic fuels for sale.
[Image: Ioan Panaite via Shutterstock]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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This seems trivially obvious. The thing that is most at a premium in a large city is space. Space in cities is extremely expensive and valuable. Big vehicles take up more of it.
"Liberté, Égalité, and Fraternité"?
1. Paris bans cars from certain parts of the city.
2. Paris charges higher parking fees for larger vehicles.
3. Rioters burn cars.
"Après moi, le déluge" - Babar, King of Elephantland while driving his red car (attr.).
Great. Please adopt here. I am very sick of paying for F 250s road use, lane hogging, tailgating and so on. Dont you just love it when you park your compact-midsize car in the lot and when you come out there is a F250 co close to your car- you have to squeeze thru the door. Short man / small p p strikes again. Anything that discourages these is a +.
"Drive a bigger vehicle, you use more space. Where space is scarce you should pay for it." Drive a heavier vehicle, you use more road maintenance. Ditto a more powerful vehicle. Ditto a vehicle with a higher COG and more unsprung weight. Drive a taller/wider/tinted vehicle, you use more space in your wake, since following distances are increased, passing is made harder and space-between-lanes for motorcycles/bicycles are more restricted. Drive a poorly handling vehicle, and you you use more road-time, since you, and hence those behind you, are forced to occupy the same stretch of road for longer. All of those should be charged for. Of course, as always in the #Dumbage: Huh?????