Munich wants to join the ban on the most polluting diesel vehicles

The city of Munich is considering joining the growing list of European cities that will ban the circulation of the most polluting diesel vehicles. This means that, initially, cars with this type of engine above a certain age will not be allowed to drive in the city centre. And this seems to be only the beginning, until all diesels are banned from the city’s streets. This decision is being taken as a result of the presence of nitrogen oxide, the main by-product of these engines, in the city’s atmosphere.

If the city finally goes ahead with this decision, it will join the councils of Paris, London and neighbouring Stuttgart, which have already started plans to remove these most polluting vehicles from their streets. The study being carried out by the city council will only allow buses, taxis and cars that meet the Euro 6 standard, which is currently in force, to circulate, according to Autonews.

The city of Munich recorded very high levels of nitrogen oxide and was reprimanded for it. So one of the measures that could be taken to avoid this is, precisely, removing these vehicles from circulation. Diesel cars that do not meet the Euro 6 standard would find it difficult to remain in the city and, in theory, the air pollution situation would improve.

That said, although this would be a helpful solution, it is not truly effective. Even if the most polluting diesel cars were eliminated, petrol cars are still less fuel-efficient and produce a greater amount of carbon dioxide, which is also quite worrying. Diesel cars remain important in Europe in terms of sales, outselling petrol cars, although the figures have been declining for several years.

Banning diesel vehicles in a city with a close relationship with BMW, one of the world’s major brands, could prompt it to consider speeding up its programme to phase out diesel engines. These are hard times for these cars and the change seems imminent. What do you think will happen?