Low-emission mobility zones (ZFE-m), instituted by the French law on mobility (LOM) of December 26, 2019, will help develop renewable hydrogen mobility.
As part of the Paris Agreement and the French government’s Climate Plan, the LOM has a key objective: to achieve carbon neutrality for mobility by 2050. This law creates a regulatory and fiscal framework through several measures aimed at companies, citizens and local authorities.
The first system, aimed at local authorities, aims to deploy low-emission mobility zones (ZFE-m), for which over 10 million Crit’Air stickers have already been issued. These stickers allow local authorities to limit access to zones defined according to their own procedures (geographical perimeter, types of vehicles, time of day, etc.) and the Crit’Air level of vehicles.
Since 2020, the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion has extended these zones to 35 cities in France where air pollutant concentration thresholds are exceeded. 45 additional ZFE-m zones will be created by 2025.
After the metropolises of Grenoble Alpes Métropole, Lyon, Grand Paris and the Eurometropole of Strasbourg, the metropolises of Nice-Côte d’Azur, Toulouse Métropole, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, Rouen-Normandie, and Toulon Provence Méditerranée have introduced ZFE-m zones.
The law requires companies to renew their fleets within ten years, with tiered systems. When renewing their fleets each year, they will have to acquire a minimum of 10% low-emission vehicles (electric, hydrogen, etc.) as of January 1, 2022, then 20% as of 2024, 40% as of 2027 and 70% as of 2030. Public and private companies with more than 50 employees and more than 100 vehicles are affected.
