When we say ZFE you probably think of a car name, a special series, or a car in a video game (in Forza: a Forza Edition), and you're not alone. According to a Harris study, 60% of French people don't know what a ZFE is. But in reality it's not so cool, it's called Low Emission Zone: a new regulation aiming to ban certain cars from driving in specific places.

In this article we will only talk about private cars.

First of all, a distinction must be made between EPZs and RTAs (Restricted Traffic Zones). A RTA is temporary because it only applies when the pollution thresholds are reached and exceeded. EPZs, on the other hand, have an effect all year round and therefore all the time.

ZCRs are being implemented in France starting in 2015 in the Paris metropolitan area before being extended to other major cities such as Grenoble and Strasbourg.

EPZs arrived in France in 2017 for the greater Paris area. They are also at work in Lyon and Grenoble and are expected to be extended to 7 other metropolises by 2026.

We are going to summarize these evolutions but before that, let's talk about the element that tells you if you can or cannot drive depending on where you are: the Crit'Air stickers.

You already know them, the Crit'Air are already there to categorize our vehicles and prevent some from driving during moments of high pollution when the government announces the alternate traffic. It is important to know that for the moment the Crit'Air do not move and that the rule always remains the same over the years.

Here is a diagram giving you all the information about these Crit'Air stickers.

As you can see, it all depends on the date of registration of your vehicle. So the more recent it is, the smaller the number on the sticker, and it will then be able to drive more often despite future restrictions. But in addition to the date of registration, there is also the criterion of the type of fuel. If your vehicle runs on diesel, it is most likely to have a high sticker because these engines are considered to be the most polluting.

Vehicles running on gasoline (produced after 2011), gas or plug-in hybrids have sticker 1, and 100% electric vehicles have the best sticker. Finally, if your vehicle is not eligible for any sticker, it means that it was produced before January 1st 1997.

The only exception is if you have a classic car, i.e. a vehicle that is more than 30 years old, no longer produced and kept in its original state and bearing the mention "classic vehicle" on its registration card (it is up to you to apply if this is not the case), then you will not be affected by the traffic restrictions.

Let's go back to our EPZs, with the one in Greater Paris and this explanatory diagram:

The evolution is progressive, and adapted to your traffic zone, depending on whether you drive in Paris or in the suburbs.

Thus, since June 1, 2021, it is forbidden to drive with a vehicle Crit'Air 4 and more in Paris intra A86. From 2022 it will be the turn of the vignettes 3 and from 2024 it will be the vignettes 2, and therefore all diesel engines because none of these vehicles can have the purple sticker. Finally, Paris would like to ban all vehicles that are not considered 100% clean by 2030.

Only, this subject is currently in the heads of all politicians because debated in particular in the Senate on June 22, 2021. Indeed, the Climate Law has been making a lot of talk since 2018 with, in particular, the Carbon Tax that set the world on fire by triggering the Yellow Vests movement. Since then, there has been talk of the Climate Law and the EPZs are taking more and more space in political debates.

Indeed, even if Paris intends to prohibit the vignettes 3 from 2022, the project was initially to impose a ban on Crit'Air 3 from 2025 in all EPZs that will be generalized to all cities with more than 150 000 inhabitants. The Senate decided on June 22 to postpone this ban to 2030. However, this does not prevent the ban on Crit'Air 3 vehicles in Greater Paris from coming into force in 2022. In this way, the different agglomerations have an additional time to impose these restrictions, and thus according to the EPZ, Crit'Air 3 will be able to circulate until 2022 (for Paris), or until 2030 if desired by the local elected official in question.

Now that you understand what is at stake with the EPZs, you are probably wondering how the government intends to monitor compliance with these traffic restrictions. It's very simple, it will be done through video tagging. But this control device will not come into force before 2023, that is to say two years after the beginning of the first regulations impacting a large number of people since 11% of the car fleet of Greater Paris is affected by the ban of Crit'Air 4 and more since June 2021, in other words, the control is operated only by the forces of order in physical.

In the meantime, you can always go for a little road trip in the Vexin on the country roads.