The eco experts report compared 25 European countries on the proportional of alternative fuel cars, average vehicle age, number of vehicles per 1,000 people and ambient air pollution. The Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Croatia and Slovakia came out in the top five most toxic drivers.  

As is sometimes the case in such studies, the results may be skewed by the fact car ownership rates are pushed up by the number of cross-border workers who take leasing vehicles in Luxembourg.

What is more, last year Luxembourg announced a large-scale roll out of electric state-owned vehicles, with the goal of ensuring 10% of the 1,700 fleet is electrically powered.

From 2016 to 2017, the number of electric and hybrid vehicles sold in the grand duchy more than tripled from 309 to 1,100.

Luxembourg has introduced a number of incentives for people to make the switch: starting 1 January 2018, it introduced a €2,500 tax allowance on the purchase of plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles and there is also a tax bonus for zero-emission company cars outside of leasing.

To accelerate the transition to electric mobility, some countries have introduced deadlines for banning combustion engine vehicles on their roads. Luxembourg has no deadline but under its third industrial revolution strategy plans to make the shift to fully electric mobility by 2050.