‘Autobesitas’: that is the new term with which Paris takes up the fight against large sports utility vehicles (SUVs). In a plan by the city council, overweight cars will pay more parking fees. New tariffs should come into effect from January 2024 to “stop the rampant growth in the weight and size of cars,” according to a press statement. Figures from the municipality show that the number of SUVs in the city has increased by 60 percent in the past four years, and that is causing more and more nuisance. “There are no muddy tracks or mountain roads here, an SUV is completely useless in the city,” said Paris deputy mayor Christophe Najdovski.
Earlier, the French Lyon and the German Tübingen, among others, announced that parking permits for large cars will become considerably more expensive. Annoyance about the impact of increasingly larger cars has also been growing in Dutch cities for some time now.
‘Not a crazy idea’
Amsterdam traffic alderman Melanie van der Horst (D66) says through a spokesperson that she is ‘watching with interest’ the idea from Paris. There are no concrete plans yet, “but we will investigate whether this could also be done in Amsterdam,” she says. “Public space is scarce and it is not a bad idea to ask for a larger contribution for cars that take up more space.”
This could be done, for example, by increasing the cost of a parking permit for cars above a certain size. In Amsterdam, at least 10,000 parking spaces must disappear before 2025, so the space for cars will be considerably less anyway.
The mood around SUVs has been changing for a while now. Last year there was a global action by climate activists in which the Tire Extinguishers action group deflated the tires of hundreds of SUVs. Not only do the cars take up more space, their production also has a greater impact on the environment and climate than that of smaller models. They are also more dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists, according to some studies.
The International Energy Agency previously calculated that the environmental gain from the rise of electric driving is completely canceled out by the rise of SUVs.
Critical drivers
Various European interest groups for motorists are reacting critically to the growing involvement of city authorities with heavy cars: owners are already paying more motor vehicle tax, they say. They also point out that SUVs can be an indispensable means of transport for families. “A private car must remain available to everyone,” says ANWB spokesperson Sanne Over.
So far, however, car owners have not been deterred from purchasing increasingly heavier cars. With an average of 1,460 kilos, newly registered passenger cars weigh almost half a ton more than forty years ago, data from the National Road Traffic Service showed earlier this year. The average weight has been growing mainly since 2010, parallel to the rise of SUVs.