These are the limitations that you will have to comply with if you have a car with a C label.
Label C, also known as «green label», is the DGT environmental hallmark that is used to discriminate against vehicles whose emission levels are just below those classified as «ECO». Vehicles with a green sticker have already experienced some limitations in urban centers such as Madrid and Barcelona in the past. Now with the entry into force of Low Emission Zonesnew restrictions are added to this type of vehicle.
At the beginning of January 2023, the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law established a new set of measures to limit traffic of the most polluting vehicles to the center of the country’s main cities. The regulations oblige the councils of municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants to establish access control devices to implement the Low Emission Zones. The only two cities that are not obliged to impose them are Teruel and Soria, since their populations do not reach the minimum required.
To avoid all kinds of sanctions, it is necessary know environmental labels and their limits. The environmental sticker must be located next to the others on the front of our car. Along the following lines we will define the type of vehicles that will carry this sticker and all the prohibitions that will apply to us in case of driving a car with these characteristics.
Environmental Label C (Green) of the DGT. What is it?
He green badge It gives us certain advantages over the yellow sticker, but equally, we will be subject to various restrictions that drivers of vehicles with ECO and 0 labels will not have.
As a general rule, the DGT automatically establishes the environmental label according to the date of the first registration of a vehicle. However, as drivers we must know that this way of designating the sticker is nothing more than a shortcut to simplify bureaucratic procedures. The norm is really linked to the EURO standards. Next, we will show you the list of vehicles that are entitled to use this badge. If your car is in one of these groups, but you have been assigned the yellow label, you can start a process to be able to approve the correct label:
- Passenger cars and light commercial vehicles that are approved in the Vehicle Registry within the EURO 4/IV, EURO 5/V and EURO 6/VI standards.
- Goods or passenger transport vehicles with more than 8 seats approved within the EURO 6/VI standard. No distinction is made by type of fuel, being the same for diesel, gasoline or CNG engines.
- Light vehicles (category L) registered within the EURO 3/III or EURO 4/IV homologation.
Breakdown of DGT Label C
The green label has a series of printed data that will serve both to guarantee its authenticity and to quickly verify some vehicle data. The information on the label is as follows:
- emissions vehicle
- QR code: makes it easy to read all the information on the label quickly for parking applications, fines…
- Barcode and label number: to avoid counterfeiting, these two elements serve to guarantee the originality of this document.
- Registration number and type of fuel: with this information you can quickly check if the label corresponds to a vehicle and the type of combustion engine it has.
What limitations will I have with a car with a Green Label?
The green label, like the others, has not been spared from being controversial. The confusion generated by the letter and the colors makes many drivers not clear if it is an ecological label or the opposite.
Almost all the new combustion vehicles that are currently being sold carry this label, except for those that have some type of hybridization or make use of alternative fuels —in which case, they use the ECO label. In general terms, the green label is neither good nor bad, it simply has some limitations that are halfway between the yellow label and the ecological one.
LEZ: limitations for vehicles with label C
Getting a bit to the point, the cars with the C label they can enter the Low Emission Zones. They will not have any type of impediment in this regard. The only thing you need to know as a driver is that once you enter, you will be forced to park in a parking lot. You will not be able to do it in a square that you find on the street.
Outside the LEZs, the regulations do not establish no additional limitation. However, in some cities, more severe restrictions may be applied, but this will depend on the municipalities or the Autonomous Community in question.
In case of not complying with the norm established by the ZBE, we can be sanctioned with a 200 euro fine. The LEZs are controlled with computer systems that compare the information with that collected in the car parks, so the sanction will be issued automatically.
What limitations do cars with a C label have in Madrid?
In Madrid there is a anti-pollution protocol to prevent harmful gases from vehicles from being trapped in the urban core. This measure is in operation all year round, but it has a series of regulated scenarios that are activated based on the concentration of gases such as NOx.
Regarding the cars with sticker CMadrid regulations apply as follows:
- Scenario 1: The protocol is working, but no additional restrictions are applied to mobility.
- scenario 2: Vehicles with label C will not be able to apply in SER zones.
- Scenario 3: The limitations in this scenario for vehicles with a green sticker are the same as in Scenario 2, since this point only affects vehicles with a red sticker.
- Scenario 4: There are no limitations to vehicles with label C in this scenario — those of Scenario 2 are maintained. We can circulate on the M-30 and enter the center as long as we wear the label.
- Scenario 5: in the latter case, vehicles with a green label may not circulate throughout the municipal area. This restriction will also apply to cars with a B (yellow) label.
Is it possible to go from label C to ECO?
We know very well that getting a vehicle with a 0 or ECO label is not exactly cheap. Getting Around the Limitations of LEZs In most cases, it requires acquiring a new, less polluting vehicle.
Just as it is possible to go from environmental label A to B, it is also possible to do the equivalent from C to ECO. The process is not as simple as going through a bureaucratic procedure, but it will require us to make a technical modification to our vehicle.
exist two cases in which it is possible to acquire the ECO label in a combustion vehicle:
- Regulation R-67: for gasoline vehicles that are suitable for conversion to LPG.
- Regulation R-110: for gasoline vehicles that can be converted to CNG.
In the case of cars with diesel engines, there are no commercial applications for the conversion to these two systems. This is due to the technical complexity and the danger of using these fuels in diesel engines.
The price of the conversion will depend on the kit that we install in our car and on the technical difficulties that exist in the process. In addition, it should be noted that not all cars are suitable for this type of fuel, so we will have to inform ourselves for each case.
Is it forbidden to drive a car with a green label in the LEZs?
No, but it is mandatory to park in a paid car park before leaving the LEZ. Otherwise, we will receive a fine of 200 euros.
Which is better label B or label C?
The names that have been given to environmental flags are quite confusing. Within the regulations, vehicles labeled C have better privileges than those labeled with the yellow sticker (B).