I’m pretty sure we’d go all Marie Antoinette on any politicians so stupid as to try this crap in America.
Why are many European carmakers now planning to build electric vehicles? Because many European cities are widely expected to ban high-emissions vehicles from their city cores over the next decade–perhaps even vehicles with any emissions at all.
Now, Paris may be the first city to experiment with such a policy. Next year, it will begin to test restrictions on vehicles that emit more than a certain amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilometer–the measure of a car’s contribution to greenhouse gases.
An official within the Parisian mayor’s office, Denis Baupin, identified older diesel-engined cars and sport-utility vehicles as specific targets of the emissions limit.
“I’m sorry,” Baupin said on RTL Radio, “but having a sport utility vehicle in a city makes no sense.” He suggested that Parisian SUV owners replace their sport utilities with vehicles that are “compatible with city life.”
We know what to do with mayor’s assistants who judge us for the cars we drive.
Off with their heads!!
But more interesting is what these simple regulations wind up impelling people to do.
London’s congestion-charging scheme, which levies a fee of £10 (roughly $15.50) to enter a large area of the central city during weekday business hours, permits zero-emissions vehicles to enter free.
Residents and travelers have responded by buying thousands of electric cars, including the low-speed fiberglass G-Wiz–despite major safety concerns with the vehicle.
Electric cars such as the 2011 Nissan Leaf are expected to sell for the same reason. In fact, Nissan plans to build up to 50,000 Leafs a year at its plant in Sunderland, England, starting in early 2013.
These kinds of policies will be late in coming to America if they ever arrive at all. The Republican Party appears to be little more than a jingoistic extension of an ExxonMobil board meeting. We’re more likely to start giving out free Hummers than we are to tell Hummers that they aren’t welcome in Times Square.