Paris SUV vote 'could trigger new trend across Europe'

Continued growth of SUVs is incompatible with that crucial, existential goal, Mr Müller, Deputy Director and Head of Policy & Research, Clean Cities at T&E, said.

But Sunday’s vote in Paris may be nudging the continent, and the world, one step closer to finally tackling that problem.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that he is closely watching Paris and may consider a similar policy. And Amsterdam is also monitoring Paris' progress.

On Sunday, a vote held only in Paris to triple parking charges for SUVs coming from outside the city, drew environmentalists and Parisians angry about air pollution and large vehicles clogging up their city to the polls.

But the vote was not a landslide in favour of the move, as many had predicted, with 54.5% in favour and 45.45% against. Turnout was very low at just 5.6% of the electorate, with some 78,121 out of more than 1.3m people voting.

But polls had predicted a relatively narrow majority at 61%. And anyone talking to voters outside polling stations on Sunday would have predicted a narrow majority too, with some Parisians feeling that the SUV vote was unimportant and merely a gimmick by the Council, others saying the move would unfairly target families and others fearing it would reduce business from the regions into Paris.

But air pollution is a serious problem in Paris and across Europe and is now the most important environmental health risk factor, according to the European Environment Agency.

In the EU, 253,000 people died prematurely due to exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5); 52,000 died prematurely from exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and 22,000 people died prematurely due to exposure to ozone (O3) in 2021, the EEA stated.

Nearly 8,000 premature deaths are linked each year to fine particle pollution in the Paris region alone, according to Airparif which monitors air quality.

And SUVs consume some 20% more fuel than average size cars and therefore emit more pollution, according to the International Energy Agency.

CO 2 emissions of SUVs increased by nearly 70m tonnes in 2022 while the 330 million SUVs on the road today emit nearly 1bn tonnes of CO 2, the IEA found.

“There is no way to reach the climate goals without tackling this trend. Because even if they are electric, they are still not the most energy efficient vehicles we can use and they don’t fit well into cities,” Mr Müller said.

SUV is a broad term encompassing many vehicles and has no legal definition. The new parking fees in Paris, which City Hall said should be introduced in September, will apply the increased charge to combustion engine or hybrid vehicles weighing more than 1.6 tonnes and electric vehicles (EVs) weighing more than two tonnes.

The new charges will target heavy vehicles coming into the city, charging €18 an hour in central Paris and €12 an hour in the rest of the city. After the first two hours, those parking fees would rise further, costing €225 to park for six hours in central Paris and €150 for six hours in some less central areas.

The weight rules will mean that many ‘family vehicle’ SUVs will not be hit by the charge.

T&E analysis of manufacturer’s data for vehicle weights shows that vehicles like the Volkswagen Tiguan II 2.0 TDI Elegance (weighting 1,640 kg); the BMW X5 (weighing 2,315 kg); the Mercedes GLS Class (2,625 kg); the Land Rover Range Rover (hybrid weighing 2,810 kg) and the Tesla Model X (2,462 kg) would come under the new charge.

But other popular family vehicles, including the Peugeot 2008 (1,623 kg for the 156 bhp e-2008); the Renault Captur (1,445 kg for the E-Tech full hybrid version) the Dacia Duster (from 1,367 kg) and the Peugeot 3008 (from 1,395 kg and 1,838 kg for the Plug-in Hybrid version) would fall under the weight threshold so would not be hit by the charge.

An estimated 700,000 to 800,000 vehicles are registered in Île-de-France, also known as the Paris region, which are heavier than the new SUV parking weight limit so would be impacted by new street parking charges if they are driven into the city and park on the street, although exemptions for multiple groups have been proposed, including people with mobility problems and taxi drivers.

SUVs have been profitable for car manufacturers, who have invested in developing and advertising these larger vehicles.

“Car makers spend €1.8bn a year in France advertising SUVs according to 2021 figures," Mr Müller said.

 “They spend €4.3bn on all car advertising in France. So the biggest chunk of the advertising budget goes on SUVs because they are more profitable.” 

But policies like the SUV parking charge hike in Paris will eventually impact consumer choice which will force the market – manufacturers - to react, he said.

“It’s a good signal to send to Parisians but also to people in other places that SUVs don’t really belong in cities. They take up too much space, they’re too dangerous, they’re too polluting.

“Now other cities should look at this very closely.

“Ultimately, we also need Governments and the EU to put a cap on car size. In theory, cars can be as wide as a truck or a bus under EU law."

Paris has transformed in a few years, Mr Müller said, due largely to brave political leadership. 

Cycling in Paris was considered extremely dangerous just 10 years ago but now it is seen as the most convenient way to travel by many. 

Walking was often hard with the traffic jams and pollution but that has now changed, he said. 

Children can now play safely outside school and cross the streets without being in danger, he said.

"Paris has now become a symbol that you can turn things around in transport. Traditionally it was the Dutch and Danish cities, now it’s also Paris."

Despite the low turnout and narrow victory, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said that the vote had been a clear choice for Parisians.

The new measure would be ‘good for the people and good for the planet,’ she said at a press conference in Paris' large and opulent City Hall after the results were announced.

It was a question of safety, especially for children and more vulnerable and fragile pedestrians and cyclists, and it was a vote against pollution, she said.

Paris’ democratic decision was being watched by the world, she said.

Minutes later, on a narrow cobbled street outside, a large SUV tried to weave its way through, its large wing mirrors jutting onto the pavement, forcing pedestrians to press themselves closer to the wall.

Sadhbh O’Neill, Climate Advisor to Friends of the Earth, said that SUVs are too big for urban streets.

"They're dangerous for pedestrians. They're dangerous for small children. They're dangerous for vulnerable road users.

“There’s plenty of accident data that shows that pedestrians or cyclists that are hit are more likely to suffer severe injury because of the design of the front of the vehicle.

“And they're just too big for city and town centres.

“We need to tackle the rising number of SUVs in the private car fleet both as a serious challenge to the environment and to public safety,” she said.

But addressing the problem by hiking parking charges alone was unlikely to be enough, she said.

“I think we're going to have to address this by reforming the vehicle registration system so that those types of cars are taxed, not just on emissions, but also on weight [as is already done in France].

“And that's within the gift of the Department of Finance.

SUVs now need a “rebrand” she said.

“A lot of people now buy them because they think they’re a safe car. But actually, that messaging needs to be reframed because they're actually dangerous to other road users.

“And it's a selfish thing to have one unless you really need one for work.

“But SUVs have been marketed by the car industry, they have been pushing them on consumers for the last five years and you can see the effect of all that advertising."

Brian Caulfield, Professor in Transportation at Trinity College Dublin said that SUV sales have “skyrocketed” in Ireland over the past decade.

While SUVs made up some 16% of all vehicle sales in 2012, that ballooned to 60% of sales by 2022.

“All the benefits of the EVs we're now selling might be wiped out by all these SUVs,” he said.

“The OECD did a review of transport policy in Ireland in 2022 and one of the key recommendations was rebalancing our transport space in favour of pedestrians. So we have obligations now. When you think about city centres in Cork or Dublin, the pedestrian or the cyclist should be the king in those areas and not the cars.”

Ireland could learn from Paris' efforts to improve the environment for residents and safety, he said. But it could also learn from the vision and dynamism of French local government.

Directly elected Mayors – like in the upcoming election in Limerick – would be a good first step to creating stronger local government with one locally elected person who can “shout for” that city, he said.

“In this vote, the people of Paris are voting for what happens in Paris. And they can say ‘pity about you’ to the people living outside Paris who want to come in in their SUV.

“We could do the same in Dublin, and tell people to leave their vehicles at the Luas.

“The people that live in this city can't be choked by poor air quality by people that are coming in and out.

“It’s also an issue of space. Cities aren't getting bigger but the cars are.”