If you want to drive your car to downtown Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt or Berlin in our neighboring country Germany, you need a so-called environmental or particulate matter sticker.
Since 2007, Germany has issued the “Ordinance on the Labeling of Low-Pollution Vehicles”. These environmental stickers can be purchased online for between five and 20 euros from the German ADAC, TÜV, Dekra or relevant city departments, for example, and must be glued to the lower right edge of the windshield so that it is visible. The Swiss TCS also offers a service at [email protected]. However, the German environmental label costs 24 francs there or 28 francs for non-members of TCS.
In theory, there are four groups of pollutants (three of which should be identified as red, yellow or green stickers on the vehicle). But access to 65 ecological zones is now possible in Germany only with the use of the green label. This green sticker with the number 4 symbolizes the pollutant group 4, which includes nearly all gasoline cars with a catalytic converter regulator, some diesel cars with particulate filters, natural gas vehicles, and cars with liquid gas engines.
Electronic cars also need a green sticker
Important, but what many Swiss tourists who travel to German inland cities by car don’t know: Even purely electric or fuel cell cars are designated for pollutant group 4 and therefore require a green label number 4.
That electric cars without carbon dioxide2Emissions from our northern neighbors still require the appearance of a small particulate matter that appears strange at first glance. But this would make it easier for hard-working law enforcement officers to check whether or not the vehicle is authorized to enter the ecozone. Because every electric car can no longer be identified as such instantly.
Veteran compounds, on the other hand, are an exception to this rule. The question arises: do German law enforcement officers recognize the veteran Swiss vehicles? Unlike Germany, vintage cars (vehicles over 30 years old) do not need a special license plate.
Without a valid sticker, there is a risk of a fine of €100
Because ignorance does not protect you from punishment, it is highly recommended as a Swiss tourist and especially as an electric car driver that you purchase a green sticker before your next trip to a German city with eco-zones and attach it correctly to the windshield. Because German law enforcement officers show no mercy when it comes to checks and will pay you 80 to 100 euros if you don’t have the vignette.
By the way, smart people are advised not to use the eco-badge as a “replaceable sticker” for various vehicles. Because if the car number plate cannot be clearly read on the sticker, or if it is completely missing or does not correspond to the number on the sticker, a fine of 100 euros will also be imposed.
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