Electric Cars Have Been Given A Higher Speed Limit In Austria

In an effort to revive flagging sales of electric cars, the Austrian government has announced that in certain circumstances EVs will have a higher speed limit than traditional cars
Electric Cars Have Been Given A Higher Speed Limit In Austria

Electric cars will be granted the legal right to travel at almost 20mph more than other traffic, the Austrian government has announced.

EVs will be exempt from the compulsory speed limit reduction at times of high pollution. Known as IG-L pollution warnings, these force traffic to adhere to a 62mph speed limit. Electric cars will be allowed to reach 80mph.

Electric Cars Have Been Given A Higher Speed Limit In Austria

Quite how the differential will be policed on the heavily speed camera-monitored Austrian motorways is yet to be addressed. Some 273 miles of the small, central European country’s motorway network will be included in the two-tier speed limit system.

Of course, the reality is that on a busy motorway, every will be clogged by petrol and diesel vehicles doing 62mph, so actually doing 80mph might be easier said than done. It’s an interesting incentive, though. Federal Minister Köstinger said about the new incentive:

“The exception for electric vehicles in the IG-L-Hundred is an advantage that we want to give owners of e-vehicles to internal combustion engines.

“In the future, you can drive with an electric vehicle in an IG-L-Hundred zone at 130 km/h. This applies to a distance of 440 kilometers in total.”

Electric Cars Have Been Given A Higher Speed Limit In Austria

The move comes as sales of electric cars have begun falling in Austria, mirroring statistics from elsewhere in Europe. It could be guessed that the early-adopters have already bought into electric, but there’s now a lull where the rest of us are waiting until it’s a more practical all-round solution before committing.

Electric cars are also still pricey. An entry-level Nissan Leaf starts at over £27,000 in the UK, while the cheapest Hyundai Ioniq starts from just a few hundred pounds less. Those prices already factor in a hefty £4500 government grant – which is about to be reduced.

Source: Daily Express

Comments

Twopoint0

Most people that buy EVs in Austria arent the kind of people to drive fast anyway, so I’m not sure how this will turn out ..

Austria is incredibly good at coming up with questionable traffic laws

11/01/2018 - 09:13 |
130 | 0
AAA Insurance

now this is the final strawl for us jdm epic car guys 😤 recruiting all #electrichatecultsquad, #elonmuskh8gang, #rotorfighter, #contrariangang and #lscult squad fam members becuz shid’s about to get fugging real 👏👌 we #furryjdmgamercarguys are going to RISe UP and abolish the austrialian continent, piece by piece, building by building, rock by rock, until this elecrric opresion of us car guys is stopt for goo d !¡ 🙅😎 epic twingo gt-r supra rotor EPIC coolguy (#makCtGREATAGAIN!) out!

11/01/2018 - 09:13 |
0 | 0
DL🏁

Now thats how you encourage me to switch to electric

11/01/2018 - 09:21 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

So basically Austria is letting the stereotypically worst drivers ever; electric car buyers, to drive even faster? This the second worst idea Austria’s had since accepting Anschluss.

11/01/2018 - 09:26 |
110 | 6
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Why do you think Anschluss was bad?
Germans and Austrians are basically the same nation. Austrians speak german.

11/01/2018 - 14:38 |
8 | 18
Olivier (CT's grammar commie)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Anschluss was pretty much forced upon Austria by Hitler to be fair

11/02/2018 - 15:53 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

The IG-L speed limit is a strange thing… It’s there to reduce emissions and yet all 3 petrol cars that we own (matrix, cuore and my swift) use more fuel travelling at 100km/h than at 130km/h.

11/01/2018 - 09:31 |
38 | 0
Matt Kimberley

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Funny, isn’t it. My Octavia vRS uses less fuel at 70mph than at 60mph. Engines’ sweet spots for economy are rev-related, not speed-related.

11/01/2018 - 09:46 |
50 | 0
London

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Same with my M140i - it’s more economical at 70mph than at 60mph

11/01/2018 - 11:01 |
6 | 0
nandee

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Well, it’s legislation done by politicians who are driven around in luxury cars, did you really expect that they will know anything about this? If they did, they would actually raise speed limits, as studies show, that in many cases raising speed limits reduce accidents.

11/01/2018 - 17:14 |
2 | 0
7heDuke

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Yup my 2017 Astra 1.4 Turbo uses less fuel at 160km/h than at 120km/h

11/06/2018 - 12:51 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

So you can drive faster but you will have less range everyone else is going slower so you cant drive faster anyhow most electric cars arent nice to drive at speed and the worst thing about this is that youre sitting in a electric vehicle

11/01/2018 - 09:43 |
36 | 0
Pagz777

Right, because people pay attention to speed limits anyway

11/01/2018 - 11:55 |
0 | 0
Metallluis16

In reply to by Pagz777

They mostly do here in Austria and Germany. Meanwhile in Italy you get overtaken driving 60 in a 40 zone by a Fiat Panda doing 100 (kph that is).

11/01/2018 - 12:13 |
8 | 0
AAA Insurance

E

11/01/2018 - 12:21 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

This is very stupid. Allowing one type of car to go 20mph more than other traffic will lead a higher risk of traffic accidents. Not only that but a ICE powered car’s fuel efficiency depends on how much work you are making the motor do and what rpm the engine is at. It has nothing to do with speed.

11/01/2018 - 12:41 |
26 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

There are already cars going 100 when the speed limit is 130. It’s not unsafe.

11/05/2018 - 11:21 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

So let me understand, you’re allowed to drain your batteries faster, requiring you to “refuel” more with fossil burning sourced electricity more often. This makes a lot of sense, Austria, lot of sense.

11/01/2018 - 12:59 |
4 | 0

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