The Association of Fleet Operators (AFP) has called for an official deferral for MOTs on 4.25-tonne electric vans after some fleets reported finding tests “impossible” to book.

Fleets have reported finding it impossible to book MOTs for 4.25-tonne vans

While such vehicles already benefit from a gross vehicle weight derogation that enables individuals with a Category B (passenger car) licence to drive them, they are still classed as heavy goods vehicles for MOT test purposes.

This means that the first MOT test is due one year after the vehicle’s first registration, rather than three years for a 3.5-tonne van, and they also face a more rigorous examination.

Aaron Powell, fleet and logistics director at Speedy Hire, is one AFP member affected. He’s reported that his company will have to potentially take a number of vehicles off the road.

“These 4.25-tonne vans require a Class 7 HGV MOT test and, between generally poor capacity for HGV testing and few test centres being able to handle electric vehicles, we’re finding it impossible on a practical level to book tests. Our lease provider has spent the last three months trying to find garages with the ability to carry out the pre-testing and source available slots for the test with limited success.

“This is going to have a serious impact on our business because we’re going to have to take these vans off the road and no doubt many other fleets are finding themselves in the same situation.”

Lorna McAtear, vice chair at the AFP, said: “As an organisation and at an individual member level, we’re very much focused on safety and of course recognise the role that the MOT test plays in ensuring that vehicles operated by fleets are in a roadworthy condition.

“However, it’s questionable whether 4.25-tonne electric vans require HGV tests, an argument we have been making to government for some time. The whole point of this category of van when it was introduced in 2019 was to provide easy access for fleets to an electric equivalent of a 3.5-tonne panel van. These vehicles are simply 3.5-tonne vans with bigger batteries.

“The difficulties members are encountering around their inability to book MOT testing only emphasises this confusion.”

A current Department for Transport consultation, open until 3 March 2025, explores regulatory flexibility for zero-emission vans, including transferring zero-emission vans from 3.5 tonnes to 4.25 tonnes over from the heavy vehicle testing system to the MOT network, using the test already in place for vehicles from 3 tonnes to 3.5 tonnes.

While the situation is being resolved, the AFP has said it would like to see government and the official bodies involved introduce some form of dispensation, similar to that created during the pandemic, allowing fleets to defer tests for a period of perhaps six or 12 months on 4.25-tonners for the first and second year of testing.

McAtear said this would give fleets time to find and book testing facilities.

She added that despite a willingness on the part of government to try and overcome issues surrounding 4.25-tonne vans, problems remained.

“As a result of discussions between the Office for Zero Emissions, Driver Vehicle Standards Authority and Department for Transport, the operation of these vans on a practical level is often difficult for fleets due to confusion over whether they have been deregulated from all of the operator responsibilities that normally apply to vans over 3.5-tonnes.

“The Government is aware of this and is trying to resolve the situation through the current consultation because there remains widespread belief that the 4.25-tonne concept remains worth pursuing as a means of speeding up van electrification. However, this process is taking time.”