Electric car sales continue to rise in Switzerland. In 2023, the percentage of total new cars registered that were electric rose to 20.9%, up from 17.3% in 2022, reported Swiss eMobility. At 1 January 2024, 163,511 electric cars were registered in Switzerland, around 3% of the total cars on Swiss roads. German-speaking Switzerland was the […]
Swiss car insurance to rise 15% in 2024
With all of the price hikes in Switzerland it is difficult to believe inflation is running at around 2% (it was 1.4% in November 2023). Health insurance premiums in 2024 are on average 8.7% higher than they were in 2023. Now Swiss car insurance is set to get more costly. The insurance advisor VZ predicts […]
What are Swiss rules on winter tyres?
Laws in France require drivers to fit winter tyres or carry chains from 1 November until 31 March in certain mountainous regions of the country. However, Switzerland has different laws on the subject. In Switzerland, there is no legal requirement to fit winter tyres. However, the Swiss Road Traffic Act (Art. 29) requires all vehicles […]
Speed limits of 80 km/h will soon apply on Swiss motorways
During peak times when there is a lot of traffic the maximum speed on Swiss motorways will soon be reduced to 80km/h on some stretches so that trucks and cars travel at the same speed. The lower speed limit aims to reduce traffic jams and improve flow, reported SRF. On Swiss motorways speeds of 80 […]
Parliament wants to make Switzerland’s main motorway six lanes wide
The A1 motorway, which run between Geneva in the west and St Gallen in the east suffers badly from congestion. On 11 September 2023, Switzerland’s parliament voted in favour of adding an extra lane in each direction along the full length of the key route, reported RTS. The vote was in response to a motion […]
Swiss car sets new world acceleration record
A prototype electric car built by a team of students at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences has broken the world acceleration record. This week the team announced that their “mythen” car had accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 0.956 seconds in a space of […]
Switzerland’s closed Gotthard road tunnel now open
2023 has been a bad year for the tunnels connecting the north and south of eastern Switzerland. On 10 August 2023 a train derailed and forced the closure of one of the train tunnels running between the cantons of Uri and Ticino. Then on Sunday 10 September 2023, parts of the roof of the Gotthard […]
Switzerland to reduce speeding penalties from 1 October
This week, Switzerland’s Federal Council announced the introduction of new rules for those caught speeding on Swiss roads. However, the changes will apply only in specific instances. Serious speeders will continue to face sanctions of one year in prison and the loss of their license for a minimum of two years. From 1 October 2023, […]
Swiss electronic motorway permits available from next week
Anyone wanting to drive on Switzerland’s motorway network must buy a vignette, a road tax sticker introduced in 1985 which currently costs CHF 40. This sticker must be displayed on the windscreen. From next week it will be possible to buy an electronic alternative to the physical sticker, reports Switzerland’s Federal Office for Customs and […]
Gotthard tunnel queues reach 15 kilometres
Switzerland’s Gotthard tunnel is a key link between northern and southern Switzerland. During the summer holiday season it becomes a major traffic choke point. On Sunday 16 July 2023, traffic queues north of the tunnel stretched as far as 15 kilometres, according to SRF. The waiting time to get to the tunnel was as long […]
