Hamburg will be the first German city to ban older diesel vehicles from selected urban areas from next week, according to a Bloomberg report. The German port city of 1.8 million people will restrict cars and trucks which do not meet Euro 6 emissions standards from using a stretch of Max Brauer Allee, a route that runs northwest from the Altona railway station.
The city will also ban trucks from a 1.6 km-long section of the Stresemannstrasse, according to a statement. Earlier in February, a court ruling in Germany paved the way for municipal restrictions on where diesel vehicles can operate.
In the past, automakers invested heavily in diesel in order to meet tightening regulations on carbon dioxide emissions. The choice of fuel in Europe suffered a major blow with the Dieselgate saga, which most recently saw Porsche recall 60,000 diesel SUVs across Europe.
“Such restrictions, in their intensity, do not go beyond other passage and stopping bans as justified by road law requirements, which motorists always have to reckon with and which they principally have to accept,” said Germany’s administrative court in May, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, carmakers must now do their part, Germany’s environment minister Barbara Hendricks was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. “It’s the automakers who caused the problem, and we can’t let them evade responsibility. We need not only software updates, but technical modifications of diesel cars that significantly lower nitrogen-oxide emissions so you can continue to drive in the inner cities,” Hendricks said.
“This is a groundbreaking ruling, and one which we expect has set a strong precedent for similar action across Europe,” said Arndt Ellinghorst, a London-based auto industry analyst with Evercore ISI, adding that the ruling is “damaging to the already-battered diesel sentiment.”
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Hamburg restrict diesels that are Euro 5 or Euro 6 which is super clean.
Come to Malaysia. The previous corrupted Government still selling Euro 2 diesel which is poison and toxic.
Euro 2 was banned in 1994 in the whole of Europe but in Malaysia, despite 24 years later, we are still selling it
most probably the previous ruler thoughts that there peasant life is lower value, business profits is more paramount!
Hamburg restrict diesel cars only. Cruising ships that exhaust more fumes than all diesel cars combined are still allowed in Hamburg.