Nimes ZFE 2026: Only Unclassified Cars Are Shut Out
ZFE-m Nimes · France · Active since 2025
Source: official source · Verified: 2026-09-27
Nimes bans only vehicles with no Crit'Air class at all. Any car that can hold a vignette, down to Crit'Air 5, may enter. Vignette EUR 5.11; fine EUR 68 for a car.
Locally the zone is called ZFE-m Nimes (France) — that is the wording on the boundary signs, on the official portal and on any penalty notice, so it is the phrase to search for once you are there.
Next
- Check your own car against Nimes — enter your fuel and Euro class, get a yes or no in one step.
- Avignon has a zone too — the nearest one to Nimes, and the rules are not identical.
- If a fine arrives after you get home — who pays on a hire car, and what is actually enforceable across borders.
Practical answers for Nimes
- When is the Nimes zone active?
- No time window published by the Ville de Nimes; treat the restriction as applying at any hour
- How much does it cost to drive into Nimes?
- EUR 5.11 for a foreign-registered car, EUR 3.85 on French plates (including postage) · Crit'Air vignette Get it wrong and the penalty is EUR 68 (cars, motorcycles, quadricycles, light commercial); EUR 135 (heavy vehicles and buses); sanctions up to EUR 450 and possible impoundment.
- Do I need to register or buy anything first?
- Crit'Air vignette Official portal.
- Who is exempt in Nimes?
- Electric vehicles (Crit'Air 0), Hydrogen vehicles, Emergency vehicles and Disabled badge holders. Exemptions are usually not automatic — most require registering your number plate in advance.
Didn’t France abolish its low-emission zones?
No — the repeal never took effect. Parliament did vote in April 2026 to abolish France’s ZFEs, which is why so many guides and news reports say they are gone. The Conseil constitutionnel struck that article down on 21 May 2026 (décision n° 2026-903 DC), so the ZFE provisions of the code général des collectivités territoriales (articles L. 2213-4-1 and L. 2213-4-2) stayed on the books.
The zone in Nimes is therefore still in force and you still need a Crit'Air vignette on the windscreen. Turning up without one because you read that ZFEs were scrapped is the expensive version of this mistake — the penalty is EUR 68 (cars, motorcycles, quadricycles, light commercial); EUR 135 (heavy vehicles and buses); sanctions up to EUR 450 and possible impoundment.
One caveat most coverage misses: the article was annulled on procedure, not on its merits — the Council held it was a “cavalier législatif”, an amendment with no link to the bill it was attached to (Constitution, art. 45). Parliament can pass the same repeal again in a properly related bill, so this is settled for now rather than settled for good. Read the decision.
Nimes ZFE-m Nimes Map
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Requirements
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Exemptions
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Nimes runs the narrowest kind of low-emission zone there is. Since 1 January 2025 the city restricts one category only: vehicles “non-classés” — too old to qualify for any Crit’Air sticker at all (Ville de Nimes). Everything that can carry a vignette, right down to Crit’Air 5, drives in. Get it wrong and the fixed penalty is EUR 68 for a car, EUR 135 for a heavy vehicle, with sanctions reaching EUR 450 (Service-Public.fr).
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Zone type | ZFE-m |
| City | Nimes |
| Country | France |
| Who is restricted | Vehicles with no Crit’Air class (“non-classés”) only |
| Who may enter | Every vehicle that can hold a vignette, Crit’Air 0 to 5 |
| Sticker / registration | Crit’Air vignette |
| Sticker cost | EUR 5.11, postage included |
| Fine | EUR 68 (car, motorcycle, light commercial); EUR 135 (heavy vehicle) |
| Derogation | “Petit rouleur”, below 8,000 km a year, on application |
| In force since | 1 January 2025 |
| Next review | Air-quality evaluation after three years, in 2028 |
Can your car enter Nimes?
Enter your vehicle's fuel + Euro class → instant verdict for Nimes (ZFE). Fine if wrong: EUR 68 (cars, motorcycles, quadricycles, light commercial); EUR 135 (heavy vehicles and buses); sanctions up to EUR 450 and possible impoundment.
Nimes Emission Zone
The ZFE-m in Nimes has been in force since the start of 2025. It is a genuine low-emission zone — the vignette system, the cameras and the fixed penalties are all real — but the threshold it sets is the gentlest one available under French law, and that is the single most useful thing to know before you drive in.
Who Can Enter?
- Any vehicle with a Crit’Air vignette, from Crit’Air 0 through to Crit’Air 5
- Electric and hydrogen vehicles, which carry the Crit’Air 0 vignette
- Emergency vehicles and disabled badge holders
- Not vehicles classed as “non-classés” — the oldest petrol and diesel cars, which no vignette covers
Sticker & Registration
You need a Crit’Air vignette, which costs EUR 5.11 including postage from the government portal. Order it before you travel; the resellers charging several times that price add nothing.
Derogation for low mileage
If the vehicle covers less than 8,000 km a year, Nimes allows an application for the “petit rouleur” derogation. It is a request to the authority rather than an automatic right, so make it before the trip, not after a ticket.
Operating Hours
Nimes publishes no time window for the ZFE-m. Plan on the restriction applying at any hour, and check the signs at the perimeter when you arrive.
Fine for Non-Compliance
A fixed penalty of EUR 68 for a car, motorcycle, quadricycle or light commercial vehicle, and EUR 135 for a heavy goods vehicle or bus. Penalties can run to EUR 450, and a non-compliant vehicle can be immobilised and impounded.
What happens next
The city has committed to an evaluation of air quality after three years, in 2028. That is when the threshold could tighten — not before.
Recent changes to this page
- Crit'Air sticker price corrected to EUR 5.11 for a foreign-registered car (EUR 3.108 certificate + EUR 2.00 postage, certificat-air.gouv.fr price service); EUR 3.85 applies only to French plates.
- Rewritten against the Ville de Nimes ZFE-m page, which states that from 2025 the restrictions apply only to vehicles classed as non classés. The page had been publishing a Euro 2 minimum in the facts table and a Euro 3 diesel minimum three paragraphs later — both are gone, replaced by the rule the city actually publishes. The weekday 08:00-20:00 line has gone too: Nimes publishes no time window. Added the petit rouleur derogation below 8,000 km a year and the EUR 450 ceiling from service-public.gouv.fr.
- Title, description and introduction rewritten from this page's own data (no shared template wording).
- Re-verified fine (€68) and requirements against France authority portal.
- Confirmed Crit'Air Vignette remains mandatory; 2026 ruleset unchanged.
- Updated enforcement procedure notes after seasonal review cycle.
Part of the TyreMap Emission-Zone Dataset — 596 verified European emission zones, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Frequently Asked Questions
Only vehicles classed as non classés — those too old to qualify for any Crit'Air sticker at all. The city's own page says the restrictions apply solely to unclassified vehicles from 2025. If your car can hold a Crit'Air vignette, even a Crit'Air 5, it may enter.
A fixed penalty of EUR 68 for a car, motorcycle or light commercial vehicle, rising to EUR 135 for a heavy goods vehicle or bus. Sanctions can reach EUR 450, and an offending vehicle can be impounded.
Yes, for genuinely low mileage. If you drive the vehicle less than 8,000 km a year you can apply for the petit rouleur derogation. It is an application to the authority, not something you can assume.
They are never affected, because an electric car carries the Crit'Air 0 vignette and the restriction applies only to vehicles with no class at all.