Gasoline vehicles registered before 2001 and diesel vehicles before 2006 are not entitled to an environmental badge to enter low emission zones. However, in some cases, all is not lost and some changes can be made.
We may have an old car and we don’t want to lose it, but we need a special permit or an environmental badge to enter a low emissions zone in a city. What can we do?
First of all, we need check if the city we want to enter gives any permission for our car. Mobility expert, Oier Martínez Violet, explains that some cities like Barcelona provide special safe lanes on certain days. They are licenses that can usually be processed online at the town hall website.
If that is not the case and we want to change the electrical system of our car, there are some options, even if they are not very economical. Depending on the characteristics and conditions of the vehicle, the choices we can make There are some of the words of the technical director of Beasain ITV Josu Velasco Iza.
On the one hand, we can upgrade the engine without changing the fuel, that is, the change in the drive unit, whether it is an engine with spark ignition (gasoline) or a compression ignition engine (diesel). This option will probably force us to change the intake and exhaust system of the car.
Another option is to convert the car so that running on gas (GLP, GNC…) or with hydrogen. In the latter case, we have two possible routes: hydrogen as a fuel cell or as a combustion fuel in a room with oxygen.
Finally, we can electrify the car modification of the motor, battery and adjacent systems. However, in some cars this reform usually does not survive due to the adaptation of the axles, the location of the batteries …
Once all the corresponding changes have been made, the car should be ready passing the MOT inspection to approve the changes. If everything is correct, the reform will be noted on the technical data sheet of the car.
However, in order for the whole process to be legal and approved, Velasco recommends going, first of all, to a professional, a repair engineer who will make a study of the current condition of the car and the possibility of improvement what we want to do. Also, this person can guide us through the entire process.
This whole process takes time and usually expensive to the economy, as Velasco acknowledges, that is why few choose these options. “In some cases, the cars are cheaper than what it would cost to change all the necessary components, so most choose to buy a new car,” he said.
According to his experience, the most frequent change in our environment is the change of the engine, but there is no change in the type of fuel. However, he pointed out that these changes were not made to earn a badge, but because the previous engine did not work.
