European cities are taking more measures every day to stop the advance of climate change. One of the factors that most notably affects this process, which encompasses multiple causes, is that of road transport. The rise of hybrid or electric cars marks a future increasingly distant from diesel or gasoline. However, many industry experts believe that these fuels can continue to power vehicles and are seeking improvements in their operation to mitigate the pollution they may produce.

The European Union (EU) advocates seeking increasingly sustainable cities in which reduce traffic and lower the levels of emissions harmful to the environment. Thus, the European Comission brought together the different European Transport Ministers at the end of 2023 to establish agreements regarding the Smart and Sustainable Mobility Strategy.

A European commitment against climate change

With this, from Spain the Sustainable Mobility Law to pursue what is set out in the European Union strategy. This law will come into force in Spain at the end of 2024 and will allow the country to save some 800 million euros per year in expenses derived from transport, in addition to helping the Government to meet the objectives agreed in the package ‘Target 55’ that shapes in the legal field the European Green Deal.

In it Paris Agreementthe countries of the European Union committed to slowing the spread of climate change in a thoughtful manner between now and 2050. Thus, within ‘Goal 55’ there is a commitment to go reducing In the next six years the greenhouse gas emissions. For this reason, many alarms have gone off believing that by then (even before) It will not be possible to buy or drive combustion cars.

From the website of the European Parliament, Jan Huitemaauthor of the Automobile Emissions Report, points out these new EU rules: “We’re not saying that you have to sell your car and buy a new one. We’re just saying that, in 2050, we would like the transportation sector to be carbon neutral” and clarifies that “what we want to achieve with this legislation is that driving electric cars is not only within the reach of the rich, but also for other people. can afford an electric vehicle. “We have 13 years until 2035, and car manufacturers are already saying that it is feasible to introduce new zero-emission cars to the market.”

When are combustion cars banned?

The year that has been defined for ban the sale of combustion cars in 2035. At least that has been the date proposed by the European Union as the beginning of change. However, this quote is still subject to modifications: In 2027 the European Commission will reassess if, by then, the enabling conditions exist to stop the sale of this type of vehicle.

This measure from the EU worries the Spanish automobile industry, which in 2023 will be consolidated as the second automotive power in Europe and eighth in the world. The brake on diesel and gasoline cars in the face of the rise of hybrid, electric or other types of more sustainable fuel cars can fully affect the automotive sector, which cannot find a solution in replacing some models with others.

At the moment, European cities such as Madrid and Barcelona have gotten to work to start this process of improvement of air quality and the lives of its citizens.

Madrid and Barcelona, ​​at the head of the new Mobility plan

The weight of this new Sustainable Mobility Law It will not fall solely and directly on private vehicles. From Spain, different measures that affect transport are being promoted, in line with what Europe dictates, and aim to reduce traffic in large cities like Madrid or Barcelona.

The Mobility Law includes sustainable mobility as a social right for the first time, which is why it proposes that they appear in the National Sustainable Mobility System measures such as:

  • Provide the public transport of carbon-free vehicles.
  • Add Low Emission Zones (ZBE) for cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants.
  • Further transport of goods by train to reduce those carried out by road.
  • Bet on him telecommuting or the use of public transport in companies with more than 500 workers.

Regarding the car, these are the measures that can have the most noticeable influence on drivers and vehicle owners:

What is going to change in Low Emission Zones?

In December 2022, the Council of Ministers approved the Royal Decree 1052/2022 that regulates the ZBE in Spain, which define “restrictions on access, circulation and parking of vehicles to improve air quality and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions”, at least as indicated in article 14 of the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law.

Cities like Madrid and Barcelonabut also Cordova, Coruna either Seville among others, they have already applied this regulation, which has achieved reduce the level of pollution in some of its areas thanks -in part- to this new measure.

How does this impact the citizen? Beyond enjoying a better air qualityas a driver you will see your access restricted to these Low Emission Zones depending on the type of vehicle you drive and the environmental label that it has.

The end of cars without environmental labels and with a B label

In this sense, Barcelona has already begun to take the first steps towards the next level. In its latest Air Quality Planthe Government of Catalonia established 2028 as the year in which, with great probability, vehicles with a B label will no longer be able to circulate in their Low Emission Zones.

Madrid, for its part, already circulation was prohibited in 2024 of those vehicles that were not registered in the city and that they did not have an environmental label. The city hopes that, by 2025, there will be no no unmarked car circulates on its streetswhether registered or not (unless it is considered historic vehicle).

Combustion cars vs electric cars

Nowadays it is increasingly common to see charging points for electric cars in public spaces and this is – to a large extent – thanks to the European Union plan, specifically represented in article 4 of the Royal Decree-Law 29/2021 whereby, from 2023, those parking lots that are not residential must have these charging points on a mandatory basis.

This is how the EU and Spain are betting on the future of the car… As long as it is electric and/or sustainable. With arguments for and against, the Sustainable Mobility Law It aims to encourage the purchase of this type of vehicle by reducing the obstacles that its drivers encounter.

Ultimately, what both the European Union and the Spanish Government promote with these measures is to reduce the use of road transport and its consequent CO2 emissions, which are increased in those vehicles with more years of life.