Paris has voted to triple the parking costs of especially heavy cars in a move aimed at countering the rise of SUVs on the French capital's streets.
Petrol, diesel and hybrid cars that weigh more than 1600kg and electric cars that weigh more than 2000kg will be charged a signifcantly higher rate for parking. Two Post Car Parking Lift
Drivers of such cars will be charged €18 (£15.40) per hour to park in the city centre and €12 (£10.30) to park elsewhere within city limits.
Although the move has widely been reported as an attack on SUVs, it also affects many saloons and coupés, including the Audi A6, BMW i4 and Genesis G70.
Plug-in hybrids – which can run with zero tailpipe emissions for short-to-medium distances – are especially affected by the new rule.
The BMW 330e tips the scales as 1740kg, the Citroën C5 X PHEV weighs 1722kg and the Mercedes-Benz A250e is 1680kg.
Parisian mayor Anne Hidalgo hailed the vote as a “clear choice” by the city’s residents, despite recording only a 54.6% vote in favour against a voter turnout of 5.7%.
Hidalgo previously said the increased tariff would be “a form of social justice”.
She's quoted by The Guardian as saying: “This is about very expensive cars, driven by people who today have not yet made the changes to their behaviour that have to be made [for the climate].”
Deputy mayor David Belliard added that the measure “will be directed at the richest people”.
Nonetheless, residents of Paris – which has some of the highest property costs in Europe, according to a July 2023 report by Bloomberg – aren't affected by the increase in parking rates.
There are also exemptions for commercial vehicles (including taxis) and the disabled.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said on Friday that he would consider replicating the surcharge for heavy cars, calling himself “a firm believer in stealing good policies".
“If other cities are doing stuff that works, we will copy them,” said Khan.
Paris’s increased parking charge for heavy vehicles is pitched by its creators as part of a war on SUVs, and much of the media’s reporting has followed suit in calling it a tax on 4x4s.
However, many more compact models are also affected. Here are some of the most surprising…
As a reporter, Charlie plays a key role in setting the news agenda for the automotive industry. He joined Autocar in July 2022 after a nine-month stint as an apprentice with sister publication, What Car?. He's previously contributed to The Intercooler, and placed second in Hagerty’s 2019 Young Writer competition with a MG Metro 6R4 feature.
He is the proud owner of a Fiat Panda 100HP, and hopes to one day add a lightweight sports car like a Caterham Seven or a Lotus Elise S1 to his collection.
The French have mastered the art of protectionist taxes, as artill correctly highlights below, dressed up as environmental taxes
If you buy a new car with significant CO2 emissions you get clobbered with a massive tax. Just so happens the French don't make many large engined cars.
Now they've identified that they don't make many big and heavy SUVs either, so next tax please.
Unfortunately some of our politicians aren't the sharpest tools when it comes to protecting our car industry. Sadiq Khan doesn't seem to have noticed that big and heavy SUVs is all that Land Rover makes! FFS!
Not surprisingly, a Qashqai doesn't get affected. Guess the limit now is C-segment cars and SUV - anything above that grants you 4x4 tax.
Interesting to see how it goes...
One Post Vehicle Parking Lift I think there should be more of a weight element in VEL rates, no matter what the type of vehicle or what its propelled by. Despite what Edmind King of the AA (amazingly) says, heavier vehicles DO do more damage to our roads, especially in the quantities we have now, and, who knows, it might even encourage manufacturers to concentrate more on weight reduction, they're certainly not bothered now.