I'm planning to drive my UK-registered electric vehicle in the Netherlands and Germany. I may (by design or accident!) drive in a low emissions zone in either country. Do I need to have a sticker on the car, or do these only apply to petrol/diesel cars?
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Incidentally, in the Netherlands, the restrictions only impact diesel cars. Petrol cars are fine too, no matter how old or inefficient they might be. – Relaxed Feb 10 '22 at 17:19
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Does the car have an E license plate or an E sticker? – Mark Johnson Feb 11 '22 at 10:38
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@MarkJohnson it has the UK "green slash" on the number plate. – xorsyst Feb 11 '22 at 13:29
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Yes, that would be the equivalent of the german plate with an E at the end. The next question is then if any of the local police know what that means. – Mark Johnson Feb 11 '22 at 14:08
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Related: https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/5946/where-can-i-buy-the-german-environmental-badge-while-driving-to-my-destination-i?noredirect=1&lq=1 – JonathanReez Feb 11 '22 at 19:23
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In Germany, the answer is yes: If an area is restricted you need a sticker (“Umweltplakette”) even if your vehicle is electric and obviously qualifies. Comments mentioned the fact that you can order it online and some exceptions for cars with another national sticker or special number plates but you definitely need a marker of some sort. Otherwise, you will have to locate some certification bureau that can issue the sticker. It's been a long time since I did it but as far as I know you get a sticker on the spot for a small fee, based on the car's registration papers. You do have to plan for 15 minutes and check their opening hours (the most annoying thing if you travel on a week-end).
In the Netherlands, there is no sticker and you do not have to do anything in advance. Enforcement is fully automated for Dutch number plates and you can check online if your car qualifies. For foreign number plates, it's up to you to check the rules and enforcement is obviously more difficult but if your car does qualify, you can simply drive in the restricted area without any formalities. Exact restrictions vary depending on the city but for cars, they only impact diesel engines and an electric vehicle obviously qualifies.
Relaxed
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only with a green sticker could it be determined "at first glance" in a simple way and by personnel with no further training whether a vehicle was allowed to drive in the inner cities https://twitter.com/alex_avoigt/status/1440356423469199364 – Bernhard Döbler Feb 10 '22 at 20:36
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4Addendum from someone who recently bought a Umweltplakette for Germany: You can order them online and they send it to you in the mail (I'm in Switzerland). Just expect it to take a couple of days. – Wolter Feb 11 '22 at 07:07
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1That may not be needed if the car has a foreign E license plate or a foreign E sticker: See: Foreign-registered Vehicles - Berlin.de ... – Mark Johnson Feb 11 '22 at 10:33
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... and File:Plakettenmuster für elektrisch betriebene Fahrzeuge gemäß Anlage 3a (zu § 9a Absatz 4 FZV).svg - Wikimedia Commons: By validly affixing this sticker to the rear of an electric vehicle, which is registered abroad and that has neither a foreign E license plate nor a foreign E sticker, since September 26, 2015, the same privileges can be claimed in Germany as with an electric vehicle registered in Germany. – Mark Johnson Feb 11 '22 at 10:34
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@MarkJohnson Good to know but that seems mostly of academic interest. What is this beast? Does that mean a French sticker that reads "E" would be recognised no matter the design? This looks very much like a variant of the German sticker and a peculiarly German system, not something I have seen anywhere else. – Relaxed Feb 11 '22 at 11:39
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Unfortunatley the information on this topic is very scanty. As stated in your answer, this must be checked city by city (I found no summery) if exempted from the Umweltplakette. It does offer other advantages. Alle Plaketten in Europa – Blaue-Plakette.de and The advantages of the E-Badge – E-Plakette.eu – Mark Johnson Feb 11 '22 at 12:19
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You do have to plan for 15 minutes Depending on the city/location of that office it could also be 4 hours waiting and only available with a pre-booked appointment (especially during covid)
– Hobbamok Feb 11 '22 at 13:17 -
@Relaxed French stickers have numbers, not letters, and the notation is opposite of the German one (1 is the best and 5 is the worst). The equivalent of the "E" sticker is a car with a charging cord icon. I'm pretty sure it won't do in Germany. Perhaps you should replace "a marker of some sort" with "a Germany-approved marker". – Dmitry Grigoryev Feb 11 '22 at 13:24
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@DmitryGrigoryev Shows French stickers (E, then 1-5): Alle Plaketten in Europa – Blaue-Plakette.de – Mark Johnson Feb 11 '22 at 14:02
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@MarkJohnson It's funny how German idea of French stickers differs from what France actually has: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crit%27air – Dmitry Grigoryev Feb 11 '22 at 14:21
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@DmitryGrigoryev Or maybe they took it from a french source, such as here: PDF - Vandœuvre - vandoeuvre.fr – Mark Johnson Feb 11 '22 at 14:43
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