French Crit'Air stickers

Transportation, Travel and Trips
1

Is this true? Any non-French registered car has to have the sticker even if they’re not going into any of the zones?

"Drivers heading to France this summer on holiday or for the Paris Olympics have been warned to check their vehicle is fitted with a Crit’Air emissions vehicle sticker or they could risk getting fined.

As nearly 500,000 people head to Paris for the Olympic Games this summer, drivers are being urged to ensure their vehicle meets the Clear Air Zone requirements before setting off.

The charging areas - known as ZCRs or ZCAs - ban drivers from entering certain urban areas called Low Emission Mobility Zones.

Vehicles not registered in France must also display the ecological Crit’Air sticker in order to travel on French roads.

In Paris, it is compulsory for drivers to have the sticker within the perimeter of the A86 motorway from Monday to Friday, between 8am and 8pm, except on public holidays.

Paris is not the only French city to establish harsh air pollution rules. It follows in the footsteps of Lyon, Aix-Marseille, Toulouse, Nice, Montpellier, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Rouen, Reims and Saint-Étienne.

According to French laws, from 2025, all cities and regions with more than 150,000 residents will be required to introduce low emission zones.

The sticker rules came into effect in 2017 and are separated into six categories each with a different colour, helping authorities and drivers understand whether restrictions apply to their vehicles.

Drivers heading to Franch can order the sticker online on the website of the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition, it costs £3.17 and takes between five to 10 days to arrive.

Without the sticker, cars with higher pollution counts could be fined £58 for entering the zones without a sticker, while coaches could be fined £115."

And how do you know which category your car falls into?

Crit’Air 0/E - Electric and hydrogen vehicles - green sticker

Crit’Air 1 - Plug-in hybrid vehicles and Euro 5, 6 petrol vehicles - purple sticker

Crit’Air 2 - Euro 4 petrol vehicles, and Euro 5, 6 diesel vehicles - yellow sticker

Crit’Air 3 - Euro 2, 3 petrol vehicles and Euro 4 diesel vehicles - orange sticker

Crit’Air 4 - Euro 3 diesel vehicles - burgundy sticker

Crit’Air 5 - Euro 2 diesel vehicles - dark grey sticker

2

Don’t worry, that’s only for the suckers traveling to Franch. Luckily, the northern neighbor is France :slight_smile:

More seriously, better read the French government site, because there are fixed low emission zones and temporary low emission zones when pollution goes up. But, this is in cities, not in the motorway in the middle of nowhere. https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/

3

I think they also accept the Geneva Stick’AIR sticker.

Small one-off price and it’s valid for the life of the vehicle (or windscreen/sheild).

You can buy a GE one here.

4

Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking Axa. We get on the French motorway at Dole and go up past Reims to Calais to get the ferry so we’re not going into any cities at all. Plenty of towns and villages from Vallorbe to Dole, but far as I know none of them have these emission zones.

Will check the French site and maybe order one just to be on the safe side.

5

From what I’ve read all French towns with more than 150k population have to implement a scheme by 2024.

6

From 2025 according to what I posted.

7

If the scheme’s been around since 2017 and never had a problem so far I can’t see that changing unless we ever go into one of the cities.

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8

The GE one was delayed a couple of times too.

9

I wasn’t aware of any Geneva scheme. Lots of people coming out to PdS drive through Geneva city, if only from the airport, and as it happens so did I yesterday morning. Maybe I blinked and missed it - any more details of what, why, when, how?

10

We were going to be in Paris last year, so we knew we needed the sticker. Ordered it online and it was delivered within a week, I think.
Here’s a table to help figure out which category your car is:

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image832×580 17.3 KB

(source)

Axa posted the link to the official government site to request a sticker. You’ll need a scanned copy of the gray card.

11

France has a long history of cockamamy ides for motorist. Back in the 1970s everyone was supposed to install yellow headlight covers or yellow bulbs.

Remember the queues for the cross-channel ferries with British drivers diligently covering their headlights with black self-adhesive stickers to avoid dazzling the French motorists? Did they do the same coming to the UK? Never!

What happened to the French recent requirement for all cars to carry a breathalyser?

This too will be totally ignored and can be added to the list of nonsense.

I shall be driving through France next month and will NOT be applying for a sticket that confirms my Tesla has no emissions…

12

Please let us know if you get fined for that! :sweat_smile:

13

What about my green Euro 4 sticker for my Astra Blitzi?

14

Yes it’s true, if there’s any likelihood of you traveling to France or through France to your ultimate destination by car then best to get the sticker. British Expats living in Spain are already aware of the requirement, so unless your traveling to & from the UK by car ferry without touching France - then best to get one & even then there’s always a chance that you might have to resort to traveling through France for other alternative car ferries to the UK or the Tunnel so still best to get one. They’re really cheap & last for as long as you own your car.

15

By all accounts the UK would prefer drivers to buy all Electric vehicles rather than bother with emission Car Stickers as they are all registered ( or in the process of being registered upon conversion ) to Green stripe number plates for their British registered environmentally friendly cars.
A Green flash registration plate spied by a ULEZ camara in the UK is automatically exempt from any emission charge when entering a ULEZ zone.

This being all part of the British governments strategy of encouraging drivers to opt for EV Electric vehicles rather than other alternative forms of Hybrid or bio fuel cars eg LPG ( sorry no Green number plates for you !! ) which undoubtedly influences car makers decisions when selling green energy cars in the UK.

Healthy Life in Essex - Electric Revolution - A Guide to Green Number Plates

16

Many thanks for this thread. We travel through FR regularly. The point of the stickers is to tell authorities which level of emissions your vehicle makes, not just that it’s eco-friendly. Even if you don’t intend to pass through a restricted zone, other events can change that (and note that local authorities can make their own rules on the spot). If, for example, you tried to go past Bordeaux during last year’s fires, you may have been allowed to continue your journey with a tier 1 car, but not with a 4, 5, or 6. Or if you encounter a stau and try to drop off the motorway to find a surface route through it, you may find yourself in a restricted zone. We ordered ours today.

17

So typically French - you don’t even need to enter your car details. You simply select the sticker you’d like!

UPDATE
NO I read the website. They want all sorts of guff and uploading of documents. This is a right pain…

18

That’s typical French…if you can involve loads of documents why not? :joy:

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19

Then get the GE one, no paperwork required. f5 plus postage.

20

That’s it! And what’s the point of the whole thing if one can make their own choice for a sticker without any reference to what the vehicle is??