Surcharge for SUVs and heavy cars: Do you have to pay more for parking in Paris? Our simulator

Will SUV owners have to pay more for parking in the future? Parisians will have to decide the question on Sunday, during a vote put by the town hall of Paris (which is in favor). In Lyon, such measures should be implemented before the end of summer. Other cities like Bordeaux are also thinking about it.

Because the definition of an SUV is not clear, it is the weight of the vehicle when empty that will be taken into account to determine whether a parking rate surcharge should be levied. But there can be as many rules as there are policies. In Paris, the town hall is therefore proposing to treble the cost of parking to residents and fine owners of vehicles weighing more than 1,600 kg for thermal and hybrid vehicles and more than 2,000 kg for electric vehicles. But in Lyon, it is thermal vehicles over 1,525 kg, hybrid vehicles over 1,900 kg and electric vehicles over 2,100 kg that must be “surcharged”.

The scope of use of the measure also differs depending on the city. In Lyon, visitors and residents (by monthly subscription) must pay this surcharge if their vehicle is affected. Owners of light vehicles (less than one ton for thermal vehicles, less than 2.2 tons for electric vehicles) will benefit from lower rates, as will large families regardless of their car’s weight. But in Paris, initially, the town hall is proposing that the surcharge will only affect visitors. Thus, the owner of the SUV will not see an increase in his resident rate (when he parks “at home”).

Our simulator to find your car weight

The simulator below allows you to find the weight of your vehicle based on its make and model and see what it would look like in case of a surcharge in the capital. However, it is based only on new vehicle data (from the Adam car labeling database), which explains the absence of the oldest models. Whatever your vehicle is, its empty weight is entered on its registration document, in box G.1.

Why “surcharge” parking for large cars? SUVs have been one of the best-selling vehicles in recent years in France and around the world. But this “success” is worrying: as cars grow, the city no longer accommodates them or almost nothing. A recent study by the NGO Transport and Environment showed that new cars grow an average of one centimeter wider every two years. The government itself has implemented a weight penalty in case of purchase of heavy new cars.

Besides occupying public space, pollution issues arise, the bigger the car, the more it consumes and therefore the more it pollutes. Even electric, the heavier the car, the more energy it needs to move. International Energy Agency Director Les Ecos recently warned, “The problems they pose in terms of the additional energy demand, the public space occupied and the additional risk they represent to pedestrians must be addressed.