IMPORTANT INFO - driving in France Crit'Air clean air stickers

[Steve Q]

As of March 31st 2017 France has introduced 'clean air' windscreen stickers, as a legal requirement in some of its major cities such as Paris, Lyon and Grenoble. The sticker is designed to allow the authorities to know the emission levels of the vehicle displaying the sticker based on the euro Emissions Standards. As you can imagine the initiative is designed to low the pollution levels within French major cities. It should also be noted that cars registered before 1997 are already banned from Paris on Weekdays as of 2020 cars registered on or before 2011 will also be banned.

The stickers cost as little as £3.20 and vehicles travelling into the above cities without a sticker can be fined up to £117! 

When ordering your sticker you have to upload a copy of your V5 (log book) document to the database. This must be uploaded in JPEG, PNG or PDF format and the file size must be under 400KB.

PLEASE NOTE that on ordering your sticker it can take up to 6 weeks to arrive!

Further Info

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/law-change-for-uk-drivers-in-french-cities/

Official Crit air sticker (certificate) website

https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/en

(Be careful of independent companies charging up to 4x the amount for the sticker!)

Vehicle Emissions Standards

Emissions standard	Applied to new passenger car approvals from	Applied to all new registrations from
Euro 1	1 July 1992	31 December 1992
Euro 2	1 January 1996	1 January 1997
Euro 3	1 January 2000	1 January 2001
Euro 4	1 January 2005	1 January 2006
Euro 5	1 September 2009	1 January 2011
Euro 6	1 September 2014	1 September 2015

Euro 1 (EC93)

Implementation date (new approvals): 1 July 1992

Implementation date (all new registrations): 31 December 1992

The first Europe-wide euro emissions standards were introduced in July 1992 and the regulations weren’t anywhere near as stringent as they are today. That said, the fitment of catalytic converters became compulsory on all new cars, and Euro 1 required the switch to unleaded petrol.

Back then, only hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide were tested, along with particulate matter in the case of diesel engines. Over the years, the regulations have become stricter and the limits lowered.

Euro 1 emissions standards (petrol)

CO: 2.72g/km

HC + NOx: 0.97g/km

Euro 1 emissions standards (diesel)

CO: 2.72/gkm

HC + NOx: 0.97g/km

PM: 0.14g/km

Euro 2 (EC96)

Implementation date (new approvals): 1 January 1996

Implementation date (all new registrations): 1 January 1997

Euro 2 reduced the limits for carbon monoxide and the combined limit for unburned hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide, as well as introducing different levels for petrol and diesel engines.

Euro 2 emissions standards (petrol)

CO: 2.2g/km

HC + NOx: 0.5g/km

Euro 2 emissions standards (diesel)

CO: 1.0g/km

HC + NOx: 0.7g/km

PM: 0.08g/km

Euro 3 (EC2000)

Implementation date (new approvals): 1 January 2000

Implementation date (all new registrations): 1 January 2001

Euro 3 split the hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide limits for petrol and diesel engines, as well as adding a separate nitrogen oxide limit for diesel vehicles. The warm-up period was removed from the test procedure.

Euro 3 emissions standards (petrol)

CO: 2.3g/km

HC: 0.20g/km

NOx: 0.15g/km

Euro 3 emissions standards (diesel)

CO: 0.64g/km

HC + NOx: 0.56g/km

NOx: 0.50g/km

PM: 0.05g/km

Euro 4 (EC2005)

Implementation date (new approvals): 1 January 2005

Implementation date (all new registrations): 1 January 2006

Euro 4 emissions standards (petrol)

CO: 1.0g/km

HC: 0.10g/km

NOx: 0.08g/km

Euro 4 emissions standards (diesel)

CO: 0.50g/km

HC + NOx: 0.30g/km

NOx: 0.25g/km

PM: 0.025g/km

Euro 5

Implementation date (new approvals): 1 September 2009

Implementation date (all new registrations): 1 January 2011

The big news for Euro 5 was the introduction of particulate filters (DPFs) for diesel vehicles, along with lower limits across the board. For type approvals from September 2011 and new cars from January 2013, diesel vehicles were subject to a new limit on particulate numbers.

DPFs capture 99% of all particulate matter and are fitted to every new diesel car. Cars meeting Euro 5 standards emit the equivalent of one grain of sand per kilometre driven.

Euro 5 emissions standards (petrol)

CO: 1.0g/km

HC: 0.10g/km

NOx: 0.06g/km

PM: 0.005g/km (direct injection only)

Euro 5 emissions standards (diesel)

CO: 0.50g/km

HC + NOx: 0.23g/km

NOx: 0.18g/km

PM: 0.005g/km

PM: 6.0x10 ^11/km

Euro 6

Implementation date (new approvals): 1 September 2014

Implementation date (all new registrations): 1 September 2015

The sixth and current incarnation of the Euro emissions standard was introduced on all new registrations in September 2015. For diesels, the permitted level of NOx has been slashed from 0.18g/km in Euro 5 to 0.08g/km.

A focus on diesel NOx was the direct result of studies connecting these emissions with respiratory problems.

To meet the new targets, some carmakers have introduced Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR), in which a liquid-reductant agent is injected through a catalyst into the exhaust of a diesel vehicle. A chemical reaction converts the nitrogen oxide into harmless water and nitrogen, which are expelled through the exhaust pipe.

The alternative method of meeting Euro 6 standards is Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR). A portion of the exhaust gas is mixed with intake air to lower the burning temperature. The vehicle’s ECU controls the EGR in accordance with the engine load or speed.

Euro 6 emissions standards (petrol)

CO: 1.0g/km

HC: 0.10g/km

NOx: 0.06g/km

PM: 0.005g/km (direct injection only)

PM: 6.0x10 ^11/km (direct injection only)

Euro 6 emissions standards (diesel)

CO: 0.50g/km

HC + NOx: 0.17g/km

NOx: 0.08g/km

PM: 0.005g/km

PM: 6.0x10 ^11/km

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/know-how/euro-emissions-standards/

Hope this is all useful :)

Cheers

Steve

[Trevor]

Thanks for the comprehensive information Steve...it seems like the French love their regulations but in reality, it will hit all major European cities in the near future and not a bad thing as well.

[rbdazza]

good info that. this will be coming to a city near you soon, guaranteed! 

i am seriously considering buying an old petrol merc and sticking an old indirect injection 3l diesel in it good for 600bhp and plumbs of black smoke just to stick a middle finger up at these jokers. 

[Steve Q]

4 hours ago, Trevor said:

Thanks for the comprehensive information Steve...it seems like the French love their regulations but in reality, it will hit all major European cities in the near future and not a bad thing as well.

Your welcome! :) will deffo hit other cities and even counties. Il be doing a similar article on the Low Emissions Zones for other eu countries such as Belgium and Germany in the near future. 

 

4 hours ago, rbdazza said:

good info that. this will be coming to a city near you soon, guaranteed! 

i am seriously considering buying an old petrol merc and sticking an old indirect injection 3l diesel in it good for 600bhp and plumbs of black smoke just to stick a middle finger up at these jokers. 

Yep it will be! 

London, Birmingham and Nottingham are some of the first. 

[Tran$porter]

Thanks for the info Steve, got mine 🤘

Edited May 22, 2020 by Tran$porter
Attachment too big

[Steve Q]

22 hours ago, Tran$porter said:

Thanks for the info Steve, got mine 🤘

You're welcome 😊

[Steve Q]

1 hour ago, Evishadef said:

Travelling around Europe can become a real pain if your vehicle doesn't meet certain emission standards, especially in France! Not only do you have to worry about being able to find places to refuel at any time of day, but they can get quite expensive too... if you're not careful. They don't make things easy for us though, right? With that said I've come up with this list of some really helpful information that I've picked up while visiting France over the last few months. So here's what you need to know before travelling through the French countryside!
 1. Crit'Air stickers
 I'm going to start off with these, simply because even if you don't plan on entering the country with your car, they are still useful (and free!) resources for those of us who drive their cars abroad. There are different versions of them, depending on the year and model of the car. Here you'll see multiple links to various websites where you can download the correct sticker for your vehicle. You just have to enter your VIN number into the search bar, select your model and year, and voilà! You're done.
 2. Fuel Stickers
 Now onto something a little bit more complicated, but you can use these stickers to help you find cheaper fuel throughout the country. In order to use them, you'll first need to register online. Once registered, you'll receive a code which you can input into the fuel pumps at service stations across the country. This will allow you to purchase fuel using these coupons rather than paying full price. 3. Driving Lessons

Great info! Have you got a recommended link to the stickers or fuel coupons?