Zero-emission zones: what do they mean for dealers? | JUR

Since January 1, 2025, more and more Dutch municipalities are introducing zero-emission zones. This can have implications for car dealers when picking up and delivering vehicles. Will a diesel car transporter still be allowed to access a dealer in the city center? And can you still deliver a gasoline or diesel car in a zero-emission zone? We explain how it works.

What is a zero-emission zone?

A zero-emission zone, also known as a ZE-zone, is an area where only delivery and freight vehicles that emit no harmful substances are allowed to operate. Think of electric vehicles or hydrogen-powered vehicles.

The first zero-emission zones in the Netherlands were introduced on January 1, 2025. More municipalities are now establishing such zones, and new municipalities will join in the coming years.

The goal is simple: less CO₂ emissions and cleaner air in busy urban areas.

Which zero-emission zones are there in the Netherlands?

Among others, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Eindhoven, Groningen, and Zwolle now have a zero-emission zone. Such a zone usually does not apply to the entire municipality. Municipalities determine where the boundaries lie and when the zone is implemented.

This makes it important to look at the exact loading or unloading location. Is your car dealership outside the zero-emission zone, but does a sold car need to be delivered to a customer in the city center? Then the zone may still affect the transport.

You can find an up-to-date map of all zero-emission zones in the Netherlands on the website of Op weg naar ZES.

What is the difference between an environmental zone and a zero-emission zone?

An environmental zone and a zero-emission zone are not the same. In an environmental zone, certain polluting vehicles are not allowed to operate. Whether a vehicle can enter depends, for example, on the fuel and emission class. Older diesel vehicles can be excluded as a result.

A zero-emission zone goes a step further. It is aimed at delivery and freight vehicles, and ultimately only vehicles that do not emit harmful substances while driving are allowed to operate there.

A city can have both an environmental zone and a zero-emission zone. The areas can also overlap. Therefore, always check which rules apply at a specific location.

Does a zero-emission zone also apply to passenger cars?

No. And that is an important difference for you as a car dealer. The current zero-emission zones for urban logistics apply to delivery vans and trucks, not to passenger cars.

You can still sell a gasoline or diesel car to a customer living in a zero-emission zone. That car can also drive there as long as there are no other local regulations that restrict it.

The same applies to the transport of such a car. It is about the transport vehicle and not the car being transported. A gasoline or diesel car can therefore enter a zero-emission zone on an emission-free car transporter.

What do zero-emission zones mean for car dealers?

For dealers, the biggest change is not in the cars you sell, but in the logistics surrounding it.

Is your showroom, workshop, storage location, or delivery point within a zero-emission zone? Then delivery vans and trucks that come there must meet the access requirements. This can be a car transporter picking up or delivering cars, but also your own delivery van transporting parts.

Do you have multiple locations and regularly move cars between them? You may also have to deal with a zero-emission zone. The same applies when you deliver a car to a customer.

In short: not only the location of your business matters. The loading and unloading locations of a transport are also important.

Can any delivery or freight vehicle still enter a zero-emission zone?

No, but not every fuel-powered delivery or freight vehicle is immediately excluded. The transition to fully emission-free transport does not happen all at once. Transitional arrangements apply to existing delivery and freight vehicles.

For delivery vans, the following applies in 2026:

emission class 4 or lower will no longer have access;
emission class 5 still has access until January 1, 2027;
emission class 6 still has access until January 1, 2028. The government wants to extend this to January 1, 2029, but that is not yet definitive.

Different transitional rules apply to trucks. Certain Euro 6 trucks and tractors may still enter a zero-emission zone until January 1, 2030. Ultimately, delivery and freight vehicles must be emission-free to enter a zero-emission zone starting in 2030.

Perform the zero-emission zone license plate check

Do you as a dealer have a delivery van or truck? Or do you want to know if a vehicle still has access? Then perform the official zero-emission zone license plate check. Based on the license plate, you can see whether the vehicle is allowed to enter the zone and until when.

Why is this important when planning vehicle transport?

A car transporter does not always drive from A to B. Especially when multiple cars are transported at once, a route consists of various loading and unloading locations. Zero-emission zones are therefore an additional point of attention.

Before transport, it must be clear where the loading and unloading locations are and what access requirements apply there. This prevents a transporter from suddenly facing a zone where the vehicle is not allowed to enter on the way to the destination.

In the coming years, this will become increasingly important. Transitional arrangements will expire, and more cities will introduce a zero-emission zone. For car dealers, this mainly means that when organizing transport, more and more attention must be paid to the location and the vehicle used to transport the car.

JUR takes the route and the rules into account

At JUR Autotransport, we arrange vehicle transport daily for car dealers, wholesalers, and other automotive companies. We not only look at how a car can be efficiently transported from A to B, but also at the conditions at the loading and unloading locations.

We are not tied to our own fleet but work with an extensive international network of carriers. This allows us to search for a suitable transport solution for each assignment. Even when a car needs to be picked up or delivered in a zero-emission zone.

This way, you don’t have to figure out which transporter can enter where. You indicate where the car is located and where it needs to go. Then we arrange the transport.

Want to have a car transported? Calculate your price easily online.