Sweden Sends a Message to Stockholm Drivers: Go Electric or Go Home

Starting in 2025, it will be much harder to find a tailpipe in a central district of Stockholm.

Sweden’s capital said this week that it would ban conventional diesel-and-gas-powered vehicles from entering a significant part of its downtown, in what is one of Europe’s most ambitious efforts to combat automobile emissions.

The plan, announced on Tuesday by the vice mayor for transport, Lars Strömgren, will allow only vehicles that run on electricity or natural gas in a 20-block zone. The only exceptions are plug-in hybrid vans and vehicles driven by certified physically impaired drivers, police and emergency workers.

“I think it’s a bold plan,” said Anna Moen, 51, an account manager for an insurance company on the northwest corner of the designated area. “We can’t live like this forever,” she said, gazing at the morning traffic.

Other European cities, like London, Paris, Hamburg, Barcelona and Athens, have similarly tried to discourage the use of private emission-producing cars, but Stockholm appears to be the first Western European city to ban those cars outright on such a large scale.

In London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone, which was recently expanded to reach outer London, for example, cars that do not meet strict emission standards must pay a daily fee of £12.50, or about $15.20. In Stockholm’s new zone, the consequence of driving in the zone with a gas-powered car would be a traffic ticket, which starts at 1,000 Swedish krona, or roughly $91.

Many cities in Europe have low-emission zones, but most of those zones are focused on limiting diesel engines or only the most polluting gas-powered cars. Other cities have focused on creating new pedestrian and bicycle-friendly infrastructure.