Smalltalk knowledge from lightning to registration: Five changes affecting motorists this year.
In the course of the year, some innovations come into force that not all motorists will be pleased, but basically positive.
Electric company cars are cheaper: To further promote e-mobility, electric cars and plug-in hybrid vehicles will be used as company cars with private use from the 1. January taxed only with 0,5 percentage points. Previously, the tax base for 1,0 was percent of the list price.
Electric cars are getting louder: What does not sound like good news at first is nevertheless one, especially for pedestrians. Because slow-moving electric cars are so quiet that they can easily be overheard, they have to give a warning sound at low speed, according to EU legislation. From July 2019 the regulation for new electric car types comes into force, starting from 2021 then for all newly registered e-cars. The warning tone must sound up to a speed of 20 km / h, because at higher speeds, the rolling noise of the tires already drown out the engine noise in modern combustion engines.
Authorities become easier: If it goes to the Ministry of Transport, the time of endless waiting at the registration office should be over this year. The first registration, rewriting and changing the address of a car should in future be possible on the Internet, a corresponding bill has brought the Minister on the way. Prerequisite is the possession of an electronic identity card. Logout and readmission are already possible online in certain cases today.
Emission limits are being kept realistic: since last September, new cars must be tested using the so-called WLTP measurement method, which leads to more realistic emission and consumption figures. Starting in September 2019, new cars will no longer have to prove compliance with emission limits not only in the laboratory, but also on the road, under real driving conditions. This could help the RDE test in a few years to make city air cleaner.
Blitzen is fairer: In front of the star box briefly on the brake and then full throttle? This is no longer possible with the new type of speed control. The state of Lower Saxony is testing the Section Control on the federal highway 6 near Hanover. The speed is monitored in a 2,2 kilometers long road section instead of at a certain point. The track radar adjusts the average speed in the section with the speed limit and makes a photo of driver and car when exceeding. Experts hope Section Control will control the turf.
Hanne Schweitzer / SP-X