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People who drive SUVs are going to absolutely hate these new smart parking meters

Published Jul 1st, 2014 9:30PM EDT
Madrid Smart Parking Meters

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Are you still driving a ridiculously large Humvee that gets somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 miles per gallon? If so then you’re going to absolutely hate the new smart parking meters that have been unveiled in Madrid that charge you more money if you drive a big gas guzzler. 

Bloomberg Businessweek reports that starting on July 1st, drivers who park in Madrid will have to enter their license plate number into a keypad on the meter, which will then check to see what their car’s fuel efficiency is. If a certain car is deemed to be too fuel inefficient or if it emits too much pollution then the driver will have to pay extra for parking.

Madrid has decided to implement these measures because air pollution in the city has apparently gotten out of control and the city faced fines from the European Union unless it cleaned up its act. In all, this sounds like this is one more reason for drivers to buy a Tesla, or at the very least a more fuel-efficient car than the ones they now own.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.