Germany Clears Legal Path For Retrofitting Old Diesel Cars

Germany's transport minister has cleared the way for retrofits, or hardware fixes, to older diesel cars to reduce pollution, mass-selling daily Bild reported, citing a technical paper it had seen.

The 30-page paper sets out the requirements for a so-called "general operating permit", which is necessary for the motor vehicle authority KBA to approve the hardware kits - a first legal step for retrofits of diesel cars, Bild said.

The KBA has, however, not yet received complete applications for retrofits, Bild added in an advanced release of an article to run in its Friday edition, without citing a source.

In October, the government presented plans to cut pollution from diesel vehicles by asking carmakers to offer owners trade-in incentives and hardware fixes.

But carmakers have not all committed to covering the cost of retrofits, which could run into billions of euros.

The government cannot force carmakers to pay for hardware upgrades but it shares an interest with the industry in preventing further driving bans for cars that pollute more, which Hamburg has already imposed. Other cities including Berlin and Stuttgart, the home of Germany's car industry, are set to introduce similar bans.

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