TÜV SÜD: Many cities will drive forward next stage of low-emission zone in 2012
TÜV SÜD: Many cities will drive forward next stage of low-emission zone in 2012
Stuttgart, Frankfurt am Main and Munich are the three major German cities to tighten the rules on emissions in city centres, introducing phase three of the low-emission zone (LEZ) scheme. This means that even cars with yellow stickers on their windscreens will no longer be permitted inside the centres of Stuttgart and Frankfurt from January on. Munich will bar older diesel cars from its centre from October onwards. Owners of older diesel vehicles who still want to drive into the city after these dates will need to install a diesel particulate filter. After a year of non-funding, the German government will again subsidize diesel particulate filter retrofits in 2012, contributing 330 euros to each retrofit. Motorists can apply for the subsidy at the German Office of Economics and Export Control (Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle, BAFA) from February 2012 onwards. TÜV SÜD summarizes the facts.
Red, yellow or green? A number of German cities will introduce the next phase of the LEZ scheme in 2012. In Stuttgart, Frankfurt am Main and Munich, only cars with a green emission badge will be permitted inside city centres. | Metropolitan centres in Germany are going green – many cities plan to launch phase three of the LEZ scheme. Stuttgart and Frankfurt am Main will already go green in January, while Munich will introduce phase 3 of the low emission zone in October. For many owners of older diesel vehicles this means either taking public transport on journeys to the city centre or having their old diesel cars retrofitted with a diesel particulate filter. In the Bavarian capital alone, phase 3 of the LEZ will affect over 31,000 cars and 9,000 trucks with yellow stickers. Just under 6,000 cars with red stickers and 15,000 vehicles without emission badges of any kind have been barred from driving inside the low-emission zone, i.e. inside the city's Mittlerer Ring ring road, since October 2010. |
New round of funding
The owners of diesel cars with a yellow emission sticker can now again apply for a one-time subsidy of 330 euros to have their cars retrofitted with a diesel particulate filter. This was decided recently by the German Bundestag's budget committee. But are the costs worthwhile? Jürgen Wolz, TÜV SÜD: "Particularly in view of steadily rising diesel prices, motorists should thoroughly calculate whether retrofitting is worthwhile – in spite of the government funding."
Upgrading from a red to a yellow emission sticker in particular is scarcely worthwhile as many cities are quick to introduce the next phase of the LEZ scheme. Taking Munich as an example, motorists who upgraded their diesel cars to emission class 3 (yellow emission sticker) in Spring 2010 will already be barred again from driving inside Munich's city centre in October 2012.
Launch of stage 2
From major cities to regional centres: in Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Ulm, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Neu-Ulm and many other cities, cars with yellow emission badges will still be permitted inside city centres in 2012. Many of these municipalities are launching the second phase of the LEZ scheme in January. This means that only cars of emission class 3 or higher, i.e. cars with a yellow or green emission sticker, will be permitted to drive right up to the pedestrian zones, while cars without an emission badge or cars with a red emission badge are excluded from entering the LEZ.
Applications can be filed from February on
After government funding for particulate filter retrofits was suspended last year, the government is now again subsidizing filter retrofits to the tune of 330 euros. Owners of mobile homes and light trucks up to a gross vehicle weight rating of 3.5 tonnes are also eligible for the one-off payment. The regulation applies to diesel filter retrofits installed in 2012. Applications for the grant can be downloaded from the website of the German Office of Economics and Export Control www.bafa.de from February onwards. The exact terms and conditions for the government grant had not yet been decided when this article went to press. Reports according to which filter retrofits will still be subsidized in 2013 have not yet been confirmed by the BAFA.
Photos: The photo of the emission badge can be downloaded from our image library: http://www.tuev-sued.de/tuev_sued_konzern/presse/bilddatenbank.
Further information about low-emission zones is available at www.tuev-sued.de/auto_fahrzeuge/feinstaub-plakette.
A complete overview of the low-emission zones in Germany in 2012 can be found, for example, on the website of the German Federal Environmental Agency http://gis.uba.de/Website/umweltzonen/start.htm. (only available in German)
Contact: Frank Volk