City may become UK's first to impose SUV parking premium
Discussion
"Motorists who drive sports utility vehicles (SUVs) or other large vehicles could be charged more to park in Cardiff, if changes to parking permits are approved."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c04gpp4w0rdo
"A surcharge would be introduced for motorists with "oversized and highly polluting vehicles", said the council.
Motorists with cars weighing more than 2,400kg, such as large Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) will have to pay more for a permit.
Motorists with cars weighing more than 3,500kg will not be eligible for a permit."
I suspect other cities will be watching this carefully!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c04gpp4w0rdo
"A surcharge would be introduced for motorists with "oversized and highly polluting vehicles", said the council.
Motorists with cars weighing more than 2,400kg, such as large Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) will have to pay more for a permit.
Motorists with cars weighing more than 3,500kg will not be eligible for a permit."
I suspect other cities will be watching this carefully!
The good old BBC seems to have missed out some crucial information - are the weights listed kerb weight (i.e. unladen) or the gross vehicle weight?
The reference to 3500kg being an absolute upper limit implies to me it could be gross vehicle weight given that's also the gross weight limit you can drive on a post 1997 driving licence.
If its on unladen weight, over 2400kg would only affect really big vehicles which probably wouldn't fit into the parking space anyway. On ICE cars it would be only owners of properly huge cars like a Bentley Mulsanne paying a premium, and even with EVs some really big ones like the Kia EV9 would be on the boundary but most others be within the limit.
However, if they are looking at gross vehicle weight, bigger "normal" cars like an A6 or 5 series would be affected and even things like a Ford Kuga getting pretty close.
The reference to 3500kg being an absolute upper limit implies to me it could be gross vehicle weight given that's also the gross weight limit you can drive on a post 1997 driving licence.
If its on unladen weight, over 2400kg would only affect really big vehicles which probably wouldn't fit into the parking space anyway. On ICE cars it would be only owners of properly huge cars like a Bentley Mulsanne paying a premium, and even with EVs some really big ones like the Kia EV9 would be on the boundary but most others be within the limit.
However, if they are looking at gross vehicle weight, bigger "normal" cars like an A6 or 5 series would be affected and even things like a Ford Kuga getting pretty close.
Ian_SW said:
The good old BBC seems to have missed out some crucial information - are the weights listed kerb weight (i.e. unladen) or the gross vehicle weight?
The reference to 3500kg being an absolute upper limit implies to me it could be gross vehicle weight given that's also the gross weight limit you can drive on a post 1997 driving licence.
If its on unladen weight, over 2400kg would only affect really big vehicles which probably wouldn't fit into the parking space anyway. On ICE cars it would be only owners of properly huge cars like a Bentley Mulsanne paying a premium, and even with EVs some really big ones like the Kia EV9 would be on the boundary but most others be within the limit.
However, if they are looking at gross vehicle weight, bigger "normal" cars like an A6 or 5 series would be affected and even things like a Ford Kuga getting pretty close.
It said fully laden vehicle weight on R4 this morning. The reference to 3500kg being an absolute upper limit implies to me it could be gross vehicle weight given that's also the gross weight limit you can drive on a post 1997 driving licence.
If its on unladen weight, over 2400kg would only affect really big vehicles which probably wouldn't fit into the parking space anyway. On ICE cars it would be only owners of properly huge cars like a Bentley Mulsanne paying a premium, and even with EVs some really big ones like the Kia EV9 would be on the boundary but most others be within the limit.
However, if they are looking at gross vehicle weight, bigger "normal" cars like an A6 or 5 series would be affected and even things like a Ford Kuga getting pretty close.
Well they voted these people in so have to put with it.
This is just giving people another reason not to visit Wales and go elsewhere.
The real question is how to stop these ideas getting adopted elsewhere..
On the weight theshold, a current Audi A6 unladed is just below the 2400kg limit but over if limit is gross.
This is just giving people another reason not to visit Wales and go elsewhere.
The real question is how to stop these ideas getting adopted elsewhere..
On the weight theshold, a current Audi A6 unladed is just below the 2400kg limit but over if limit is gross.
Edited by Inbox on Thursday 16th October 17:55
I guess it’s not SUVs that will incur a higher permit cost like your crossovers but the full strength SUVs over 2.4t
Of course this is going to affect the bigger SUVs especially PHEVs or full EVs. Tbh, I’m not bothered by this. If you can afford a bigger car then deal with the cost.
The only issue I have with the councils approach is people paying for permits but there isn’t enough provision for parking. What is a permit holder paying for if there’s nowhere to park?
I live in Cardiff and on street parking is a nightmare at times.
To the point at which if you come home at 11pm or later you’ll either park 10 minutes from your house or park on double yellow lines.
Cardiff Council took away a significant amount of on street parking in the affected areas to build cycleways to encourage active transport. Students living in HMOs still bring cars to university, as do those in the university halls.
The university halls don’t provide lots of parking so non-permit parking places are hard to find as the council have got rid of the majority of these.
But some students do need cars for placements. Outside of Cardiff public transport connections to other hospitals etc are poor.
Of course this is going to affect the bigger SUVs especially PHEVs or full EVs. Tbh, I’m not bothered by this. If you can afford a bigger car then deal with the cost.
The only issue I have with the councils approach is people paying for permits but there isn’t enough provision for parking. What is a permit holder paying for if there’s nowhere to park?
I live in Cardiff and on street parking is a nightmare at times.
To the point at which if you come home at 11pm or later you’ll either park 10 minutes from your house or park on double yellow lines.
Cardiff Council took away a significant amount of on street parking in the affected areas to build cycleways to encourage active transport. Students living in HMOs still bring cars to university, as do those in the university halls.
The university halls don’t provide lots of parking so non-permit parking places are hard to find as the council have got rid of the majority of these.
But some students do need cars for placements. Outside of Cardiff public transport connections to other hospitals etc are poor.
BlueJazz said:
"A surcharge would be introduced for motorists with "oversized and highly polluting vehicles", said the council.
How will that work with oversized non-polluting vehicles? Are they going to charge using a weight/emissions matrix or just weight alone? The latter would be unfair to EVs which are naturally a few hundred kg heavier than their more polluting ICE equivalents. 
uktrailmonster said:
BlueJazz said:
"A surcharge would be introduced for motorists with "oversized and highly polluting vehicles", said the council.
How will that work with oversized non-polluting vehicles? Are they going to charge using a weight/emissions matrix or just weight alone? The latter would be unfair to EVs which are naturally a few hundred kg heavier AND more polluting than their ICE equivalents. simon_harris said:
uktrailmonster said:
BlueJazz said:
"A surcharge would be introduced for motorists with "oversized and highly polluting vehicles", said the council.
How will that work with oversized non-polluting vehicles? Are they going to charge using a weight/emissions matrix or just weight alone? The latter would be unfair to EVs which are naturally a few hundred kg heavier AND more polluting than their ICE equivalents. 
ks. simon_harris said:
uktrailmonster said:
BlueJazz said:
"A surcharge would be introduced for motorists with "oversized and highly polluting vehicles", said the council.
How will that work with oversized non-polluting vehicles? Are they going to charge using a weight/emissions matrix or just weight alone? The latter would be unfair to EVs which are naturally a few hundred kg heavier AND more polluting than their ICE equivalents. Bath parking is based on emissions but at least there they have good park and ride which is free to park and the bus fare you can use a buss pass but it is only couple of pounds anyway.
Sadly all councils still see cars as an easy target and implementing a system like this will be popular as people think it will only be the rich affected and then find out they are as well
Sadly all councils still see cars as an easy target and implementing a system like this will be popular as people think it will only be the rich affected and then find out they are as well
spaximus said:
Bath parking is based on emissions but at least there they have good park and ride which is free to park and the bus fare you can use a buss pass but it is only couple of pounds anyway.
Sadly all councils still see cars as an easy target and implementing a system like this will be popular as people think it will only be the rich affected and then find out they are as well
Ahh the ole turkeys voting for christmas again Sadly all councils still see cars as an easy target and implementing a system like this will be popular as people think it will only be the rich affected and then find out they are as well
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff