Paris is the most striking case because it has taken it to the extreme. The city has a very simple system to reduce the volume of cars on its most central streets: that you pay 18 euros to leave the car on the street. It doesn’t matter if it is electric or combustion, the intention is to punish parking to reduce car trips. The fee is paid by weight of the vehicle, so SUVs are the most punished.
The Parisian idea has been replicated in Spain in one way or another. In Madrid, for example, parking a car in its most central streets has a price if it is labeled B or C: 200 euros fine. And the capital does allow access to the streets that previously formed Madrid Central but it is mandatory that, with these labels, the car passes through a parking lot. If you park on the street, the fine is guaranteed because access is controlled by cameras that exchange data with the parking lots.
And it is not the only city that chooses this way of acting. Most of the information that suggests that cars with a B label cannot circulate in the center of a good handful of Spanish cities hides in its headline that yes they can do it as long as they park in a parking lot.
The streets of the cities have ended up becoming on the battlefield of mobility. Forced by the States or by their own decision, large cities are trying to reduce the passage of vehicles and deliberately eliminate parking spacesthey roll out the red carpet for shared vehicles or widen sidewalks to absorb the flow of their citizens but also the massive arrival of tourists.
Given this situation, the European Union has found an argument for citizens to switch to electric cars. Yeah one of the great attractions of the motorcycle is to reach our destination door to door, European politicians want to propose something equally attractive for cars. Cars, microcars or the luck of kei cars to the European one that wants to move forward to fight with smaller Chinese electric cars, cheaper than European ones.
Free way to park
According to Financial Timesone of the incentives that the European Commission is preparing for the creation of this new category of vehicles is, precisely, that its owner does not face any restrictions of any kind when parking.
The measure would be just one more incentive for the purchase of a car that would also come with regulatory facilities under its arm, both for the customer and the manufacturer. As we have explained previously, the European Commission wants to put on the table a vehicle that straddles the heavy quadricycle and tourism. An alternative with contained dimensions, electric and that would receive a sticker made in Europe as long as most of its production was local.
Europe is trying to improve the competitiveness of its vehicles and position a type of car that would require manufacturing on European soil. Manufacturers would benefit because they would have to meet lower standards. For example, security facilities have been targeted.
Although everything remains to be confirmed, it seems that the initial idea is that they are cars that are below 4.1 meters long and a contained price, according to Coach. With current knowledge of batteries, this leaves us with cars with very small electrical energy accumulators because the battery is still the main cost of vehicles. Especially the smaller the car.
Thus, we can expect vehicles designed by and for the urban environment where excursions outside the ring roads of a city are very unattractive. That’s why has signed up so that these cars did not have to comply with obligations such as the lane departure warning system, now mandatory in all new cars.
Raising your hand with those obligations (in whole or in part) would help the manufacturer position the car at a more competitive and attractive price. This last part is essential for the customer since the cost of acquisition and maintenance can be a huge barrier when buying a car of little use on the open road.
To make the latter more attractive, the intention is indicated from Financial Timesis to offer tax facilities to the client, rewarding those who opt for this type of car. Those tax facilities that are already present for some electric cars (such as exemptions on registration or circulation tax) would be added to being able to park anywhere in the city for free.
The new regulation, therefore, would buy a good part of what Japan already offers with its kei car. These cars cannot exceed 3.48 meters in length and 1.48 meters in height. Furthermore, the engine cannot exceed 660 cc either. This category is a success because in Japan there are cities where it is mandatory to have a parking space to buy a car, given the lack of space. However, the kei car do not adhere to this standard.
But, above all, they succeed in Japan because there rational purchasing is well regarded. With those dimensions and that engine, the vehicle is perfectly functional on a daily basis and even allows short getaways as long as the customer accepts some discomfort. The success is such that it even has its own proposal for kei cars sports.
Whether Europe will be able to replicate the Japanese model with this new category, so particular due to its own restrictions and philosophy of life, is something that only time will tell.
Photo | Dacia and Kadir Celep
In Xataka | Europe is eager for cheap electric cars. Europe’s solution: copy Japan
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