France to Tax High CO2 Cars, Fund Research for Hybrids
12 September 2005
French Ecology Minister Nelly Olin has announced a number of initiatives focused on decreasing CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.
The measures include a license tax on cars that emit high levels of CO2, funding for R&D to develop a family car that emits less than 100 g/km of CO2, and increased tax incentives for hybrids and alterative fuel vehicles.
The tax, effective 1 Jan 2006, will be set at €2 (US$2.45) per gram for cars producing between 200 and 250 g/km CO2, and €4 (US$4.91) per gram for those producing more than 250 g/km. The proceeds, expected to be about €18 million (US$22 million), will flow into the French Environment and Energy Saving Agency.
The government is also putting €100 million (US$123 million) into R&D to develop a family car that emits lees than 100 g/km CO2.
Olin also announced that tax incentives for environmentally friendly vehicles such as hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles using LPG or CNG will increase to €2,000 (US$2,450) from the present level of €1,525 (US$1,873).The French automakers must take advantage of very promising technologies; I think in particular of the hybrid vehicle, which offers many ecological advantages, and which could be a diesel-electric hybrid. The objective is to create a family car emitting less than 100 grams of CO2 per kilometer, which does not exist today.
—Minister Olin
This is exactly what we should be doing. Too bad we don't have anyone in our government with imagination.
Posted by: Lucas | 12 September 2005 at 01:11 PM
Taxation requires no imagination at all. More government control, bureacracy and punitive measures? No, Thanks.
Posted by: T.Thoms | 12 September 2005 at 03:16 PM
No taxations and regulations is wishful thinking. You would not even be able to buy a turbo diesel or a hybrid
from europe or japan if these countries had not taxed their fuel that high. These cars simply would not exist yet..
Posted by: Mike Weindl | 12 September 2005 at 03:54 PM
It seems that opposition to lower pollution or zero pollution vehicles in beautiful USA is still very strong. A special $2 to $4/gallon federal gas/diesel pollution tax may achieve the same results without on-road testing. It worked in Europe where the average car is much smaller, consumes and pollutes half as much. It should work in North America. N-A Drivers would quickly realize that smaller, more efficient cars, consume and pollute less.
Posted by: Harvey D | 12 September 2005 at 06:18 PM
Hybrid technology and turbo diesel only made available due to high taxation? I'm afraid you'll have to back that up.
I'll take "wishful thinking" over increased government control, money grabbing, and bureaucracy any day.
Posted by: tthoms | 14 September 2005 at 12:23 AM
A progressive much higher fuel price (up to 3X the current price) is by far the easiest and quickiest way to convince drivers to purchase more efficient vehicles. Call it a pollution tax, a health tax, a survival tax or anything else you want, it is easy to implement and still one of the best approach to solve the over-consumption problem. The other solution is to continue guzzling gas and give the oil producers the perfect excuse to raise the price of the barrel of oil to $200+ thereby shifting more $$billions from our pockets to theirs. I hope that many of us would prefer to keep the $$billions home for re-investment in local wind/solar farms and cleaner vehicles. It would be a win-win job creation solution. Survival of the North American way of life would be given a much better chance. California style anti-pollution laws will always be challenged by Oil Lobbies & friends until they are washed down to meannigless. Voluntary measures do not work. The pocket book is sometime a better path than difficult to apply laws that can be challenged over and over again.
Posted by: Harvey D | 14 September 2005 at 08:41 AM