New restrictions for access to historic centres. They are bound to hit owners of some of Italy’s most popular vehicle classes hard
Crackdown on Limited traffic areas in the large Italian metropolitan areas. It is a period of great changes in terms of traffic restrictions in historic centers and various municipal administrations are taking measures to extend new limitations for cars circulating within the Ztl. Panic among motorists is on the rise because their means are at risk of exclusion.
With the advent of increasingly stringent regulations on polluting emissions, such as the Euro 7 standard approved by the European Parliament, which will enter into force as early as 2025, the times in big cities are ripe for a change of course.
Despite attempts to restrict access to more and more vehicles in the historical centers of the Italian capitals, one fact is certain: the alternatives for sustainable mobility are not as sustainable for consumers’ pockets. In this sense, the road towards the electrification of cars still seems to be uphill in Italy, with just over 171,000 battery-powered vehicles registered so far, according to data provided by Motus-e.
Far from a zero-emission future
Moreover, Italy represents a unique case in Europe, the only country where – instead of increasing – EV vehicle sales decline. If we look at the month of December 2022registrations of fully electric cars fell by 26.6% compared to the previous year, reaching just 4,526 units.
Given the stagnant situation of the zero-emission car market in Italy, what is even more surprising are the decisions that some public administrations are making on the restrictions on circulation in historic centers for some classes of older vehicles.
Stop polluting vehicles in Rome, ACI asks for an exemption for historic ones
In this scenario, there has been much discussion the ordinance issued on 28 February in Rome by the mayor of the capital, Roberto Gualtieri, who decreed the stop to circulation for some types of cars by banning the most polluting vehicles in the green belt (the largest in Europe). With the new city ordinance, access to this entire huge area, from now on prohibited for petrol vehicles up to Euro 2 or diesel up to Euro 3would penalize even historic vehiclesmaking no distinction of value between cars with more than 20 years of history behind them.
Hard counterattack of president of ACI, Angelo Sticchi Damianiwho underlined the importance of distinguishing between “historic vehicles” and “old vehicles” with the proposal of a safeguard list which aims to protect the few vehicles of genuine historical interest and to exclude the 43% of old cars of no value. The ACI Historic Safeguarding List demonstrates that many cars have no collecting interest and should not be allowed to enter restricted traffic zones.
