Paris votes to triple SUV parking charge
Thu, 22 Feb 2024
Car parking charges for SUVs and heavier cars are set to triple in Paris after voters agreed to the creation of special rates for large and weighty vehicles.
Set to come into force in September, the cost to park a vehicle weighing more than 1.6 tonnes will rise to €18 (£15) an hour in the centre of Paris.
On the outskirts of Paris, costs will rise to €12 (£10) an hour. These charges are for the first two hours – after which they become even more punitive.
Parking for six hours with a heavier vehicle will now cost €225 (£192), compared to €75 (£64) for lighter cars.
The 1.6-tonne weight limit applies to regular ICE and hybrid vehicles – there is a raised weight limit of two tonnes for electric vehicles.
This is to reflect the fact zero-emissions vehicles often weigh more than conventional cars. The charges are only for visitors to Paris, with residents exempt from the new higher costs.
Almost 55% of Parisians voted to increase the price of parking passes for heavier vehicles from outside the city. However, the low turnout of voters in the referendum has caused controversy – just 5.7% of eligible voters cast a vote.
The question in the referendum asked if voters were 'for or against the creation of a specific rate for the parking of heavy, bulky, polluting individual cars'.
Motoring groups have launched a petition against the new charges.
"We must firmly oppose these attacks on freedom pursued under false green pretext," the lobby group ’40 millions d’automobilistes’ says.
"If we don’t stop it now, this unjustified rebellion led by an ultra-urban and anti-car minority will spread like gangrene to other cities."
Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo said leaders were "proud of having posed an eminently environmental question at a time the environment is presented as the source of all evil. It’s a form of resistance here in Paris to this very concerning movement."
Paris hosts the Olympic Games this summer and the mayor’s office has overseen a series of initiatives to make it 'greener and friendlier for pedestrians and cyclists'.
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