Parisians have voted to hike parking charges on giant SUVs — and it isn’t the one European metropolis to set its sights on heavier, extra polluting automobiles.

At a referendum in Paris final month, virtually 55% voted in favor of a particular parking charge for sports activities utility autos (SUVs) for non-residents. With a turnout charge of 5.7%, nevertheless, the ballot represented solely a small proportion of the capital’s electoral checklist.

The measure will see drivers pay as much as 18 euros ($19.54) an hour to park within the heart of Paris, and 12 euros an hour within the wider metropolis. The upper prices will apply to SUVs weighing greater than 1.6 metric tons which might be hybrid or have a combustion engine, in addition to electrical SUVs weighing over 2 metric tons.

In line with Jens Müller, deputy director and head of coverage and analysis on the Clear Cities marketing campaign group, “what occurs in Paris normally would not keep in Paris.”

He advised CNBC that there is a excessive probability of different cities following go well with, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo agrees, saying following the vote: “Parisians have made a transparent selection … different cities will observe.”

It comes as SUV gross sales proceed to surge, with the Worldwide Vitality Company noting that “the shift in the direction of heavier and fewer fuel-efficient typical autos will increase development in each oil demand and CO₂ emissions.” International carbon emissions from the autos neared 1 billion tons in 2022, in response to the IEA.  

SUVs stay in style due to their further seating, cupboard space and better driver place. In the meantime, Edmund King, president of the U.Okay.’s AA, advised the Instances that there have been “legitimate security explanation why automobiles have gotten greater.”

“Automobile security has improved considerably and far is right down to Euro NCAP, [a safety standard] which suggests fashionable autos have crumple zones, pedestrian safety and quite a few airbags, which all add to measurement,” he stated.

Nevertheless, knowledge signifies that many of those bigger automobiles are registered to houses in city areas — inflicting an issue in already-crowded cities. An evaluation of recent automobile registrations within the U.Okay. by the marketing campaign group Badvertising in 2021 confirmed that three-quarters of SUVs offered in 2019-20 had been registered to city addresses.

And cities in Europe are beginning to take be aware.

The Paris vote adopted within the footsteps of fellow French metropolis Lyon, which has already introduced an identical coverage. Its plans to introduce increased parking prices for heavier autos which is because of come into pressure subsequent June.

French metropolis Grenoble, in the meantime, has already applied a increased environmental tariff in automobile parks for heavier autos, and a spokesperson from the mayor’s workplace in Bordeaux advised CNBC that the town and the mayor are “on the reflection stage with reference to taxing SUVs.”

In Germany, the southern metropolis of Tübingen applied a six-fold improve in the price of an annual resident parking permits to 180 euros for combustion-engine autos weighing over 1.8 metric tons. Whereas the mayor of Hanover, Belit Onay, advised CNBC following the Paris vote that his metropolis would “additionally must face the query of how we cope with autos that take up extra space.” 

It is a nod to the truth that air pollution is not the one potential subject with SUVs, with house and security additionally of concern. Marketing campaign group Transport & Atmosphere — which runs the Clear Cities Marketing campaign — has discovered that new automobiles in Europe are getting 1cm wider each two years on common. The group stated that enormous luxurious SUVs, with a width of round 200cm, now depart too little house for individuals to get out and in of different autos in typical off-street parking areas.

In the meantime, a research by the Vias Institute in Belgium, launched in August, discovered that the chance of deadly accidents will increase by 30% if a pedestrian or bike owner is hit by a automobile with a hood that’s 10cm increased than common.  

Previous to the Paris referendum, London Mayor Sadiq Khan instructed that he can be keeping track of the effectiveness of the insurance policies. Nevertheless, a spokesperson for Khan stated by way of e mail that the mayor doesn’t have the facility to introduce an SUV parking cost, nor does he have plans to take action. 

The strikes in continental Europe might be of specific curiosity to the U.Okay., with Transport & Atmosphere noting that the nation taxes petrol SUVs at a a lot decrease charge than different international locations in Europe. The marketing campaign group stated that this might make the U.Okay. a “tax haven” for these bigger, extra polluting automobiles.

It comes as U.Okay. gross sales of SUVs proceed to surge, up by greater than a fifth between 2022 and 2023, in response to analysis from T&E, with SUVs accounting for 60% of all new automobile registrations final yr. The group warned that this might “blow a gap” in U.Okay. carbon targets, given most are petrol and diesel, hybrids or plug-in hybrid autos.

Rezina Chowdhury, deputy chief for London’s Lambeth council, advised CNBC that she had been “watching with pleasure, what occurred in Paris.” 

She defined that London’s Lambeth Council had launched emissions-based charging final yr and that the subsequent step would charges based mostly on measurement. “It simply feels mistaken that in a metropolis, that you’ve got these huge autos,” Chowdhury stated.