Electric Cars Have Been Given A Higher Speed Limit In Austria
Electric cars will be granted the legal right to travel at almost 20mph more than other traffic, the Austrian government has announced.
EVs will be exempt from the compulsory speed limit reduction at times of high pollution. Known as IG-L pollution warnings, these force traffic to adhere to a 62mph speed limit. Electric cars will be allowed to reach 80mph.
Quite how the differential will be policed on the heavily speed camera-monitored Austrian motorways is yet to be addressed. Some 273 miles of the small, central European country’s motorway network will be included in the two-tier speed limit system.
Of course, the reality is that on a busy motorway, every will be clogged by petrol and diesel vehicles doing 62mph, so actually doing 80mph might be easier said than done. It’s an interesting incentive, though. Federal Minister Köstinger said about the new incentive:
“The exception for electric vehicles in the IG-L-Hundred is an advantage that we want to give owners of e-vehicles to internal combustion engines.
“In the future, you can drive with an electric vehicle in an IG-L-Hundred zone at 130 km/h. This applies to a distance of 440 kilometers in total.”
The move comes as sales of electric cars have begun falling in Austria, mirroring statistics from elsewhere in Europe. It could be guessed that the early-adopters have already bought into electric, but there’s now a lull where the rest of us are waiting until it’s a more practical all-round solution before committing.
Electric cars are also still pricey. An entry-level Nissan Leaf starts at over £27,000 in the UK, while the cheapest Hyundai Ioniq starts from just a few hundred pounds less. Those prices already factor in a hefty £4500 government grant – which is about to be reduced.
Source: Daily Express
Comments
Cool idea. That would be an argument for me if i lived in austria.
Someone read the article very thoroughly
Are you actually f*ing with me, what bullshit is this.
For some reason i read Australia and didn’t understand at all
So basically if you have an EV you are legally allowed to drive faster thus theoretically reducing your range. Whats the point in this. Just go the same speed as everyone else, its safer that way.
In America, most people don’t even maintain their own car. EVs are mostly bought by people who doesn’t even care about driving, they couldn’t care any less about tires. You would see a bunch of morons driving on bald tires on the highway.
Imagine a bunch of un-maintained EVs driving 20 MPH faster than normal traffic. That’s encouraging troubles.
They should work on a law that ICE vehicles with wider tires on coilovers and added aero should allow 150 MPH on the highway =)). Bonus extra 20 MPH on top when pass a Prius. hahaha
Range Anxiety Just kicked in Bro!!!
This is so dumb if anything it should be the opposite as electric cars are quieter so it’s harder for pedestrians to head so they should go slower
Did you read anything past the headline? Because you’d know pedestrians are a non-issue in this decision.
So they want someone to weave around traffic on a motorway 20mph faster than everyone else. How is this safe?
There’s already traffic going 100 and even 80 in a 130. This is totally normal. There is no weaving anyway, passing on the right and left-lane hogging are prohibited.
How are rules like this allowed to be implemented without scientific evidence that they truly have a positive effect?
As far as I can tell this will up road accidents so therefore puts pressure on health system, actually causes more environmental harm than without the higher limit, and is just a lame marketing tool to get people to buy electric cars.
If there was ever an incentive that would get me to buy an ev this is it