nycmary

I will be spending 5 days in Alsace and then planning to drive from Colmar France to Freiburg Germany for 2 days. I will need an environmental pass. How do I get one for a rental car?

hetismij2

You can in theory get one at a TüV station or a garage which tests exhaust fumes, but you need the registration document, which you wont have in a rental.
Chances are your rental car already has one so close to the border, but if not you have to avoid the emissions zone with your car, and park it outside.
Can you contact the place you are renting from and ask them?

Besalu

Hi! I think the simplest thing is that you do not enter the area marked in yellow with your rental car. In any case, I to tell you that I've passed many times on Highway 31 without the sticker and they've never stopped me. The car has the sticker of my country and I don't understand why I need another one if my car is from EU. In any case, the fine is €100. That 'it's not a fortune either. Said that, if you hire a vehicle in or close to a German low-emission zone, it will almost always have an emissions sticker. You can ask your rental company.

i
Freiburg low-emission zone

nycmary

Thank you hetismij2. I already did ask the hotel and they basically told me to look online at a link they sent. It required documentation on the car I did not have. I'll reach out to the car rental place and see what they say. Thanks so much for your input.

nycmary

Thanks Besalu. My hotel is in the yellow zone and I was warned by a friend that I could get multiple tickets over my two day stay. I will try to reach out to the car rental company to see what they say. Otherwise if it's too much of a hassle, I may just skip Freiburg and stay the extra 2 days in Alsace. Thanks again.

hetismij2

It is a shame countries can't agree on stickers for these zones. At least Spain accepts French and German stickers for foreign cars. I assume your rental will have the Critair sticker on it for Strasbourg.

P_M

Yikes, we rented a car in Paris and drove to Alsace, and we did a day trip to Freiburg. I didn't know about this requirement, glad we weren't caught. :😱

hetismij2

You were lucky, or the car already had the stickers on the windscreen. Though there is still time of course...
The French in particular are clamping down on having a Crit'air sticker. I'd like to think any French rental car has one automatically (as opposed to a lease car which may not have one). Some areas are permanent (like Paris and Strasbourg) others depend on the air quality - if it gets bad then cars without the right level of sticker can't move, which could be a pain if you have a plane to catch.
MAny German cities have zones, but usually have an area close to the centre, or public transport to the centre where you can safely leave the car.

Sberg

Are there big signs when you are entering a zone where the stickers are required? We will be staying near Colmar, France and we don't want to enter the zone near Strasbourg.

Christina

There are mapsonline of the Strasbourg zone. It ends on the southwest side a bit before Obernai.

lylawatts5310

Maps of the Strasbourg area are readily available online, and they extend until the southwestern outskirts, just a short distance before reaching Obernai.

bilboburgler

I would tell the rental company where you are going before you get there and, assuming they are based in Alsace, they may already have this covered on your car.