Paris Has Banned All Combustion-Engined Cars From 2030

Paris has demonstrated just what a good environmental egg it is, by banning ‘all combustion-engined vehicles’ by 2030 – 10 years before all of France implements the same.

Many Parisians rely on public transport alone; a pattern repeated in most of the world’s big cities. The city authorities have been making anti-diesel noises for a while, and this latest move is all part of its drive to get diesel off the streets altogether. Unlike the 2040 bans we’ve already seen, which only affect new car sales, this one bans new and old cars from the city limits.

Arguments from the industry may come in the shape of the latest selective catalytic reduction technologies, diesel particulate filters and more, but the dieselgate damage is done. Manufacturers might as well talk to a wall.

Nowhere has it yet been reported whether the Paris ban specifically includes hybrids, or whether it mirrors the bans in place for 2040 across France and the UK, where hybrids will be allowed. It simply mentions ‘combustion-engined cars’, which technically should include hybrids. Bye-bye, Parisian Prius?

The data we have so far hasn’t suggested that combustion-engined cars can’t be sold at the city’s expensive showrooms. McLaren Paris, for example, might still be able to sell cars, as long as they were shipped out of Paris on an electric transporter. We’re waiting for more details on exactly how the ban will work.

Renault, as the French manufacturer with the most electric car heritage and the most products on the market right now, will probably be quite pleased. Expect the next decade and a bit to be filled with electric car launches; especially, by 2027 or so, of superminis, as cities around the world follow Paris’ lead.

We expect that, with emissions-related pressure mounting on the London mayor and his compatriots in major US cities, plus across Europe, more of these announcements will follow. The electric future that seemed so far away pre-dieselgate now seems almost within touching distance. Governments had better step up and start installing more charging points, then. Pronto.