THE Association of Fleet Operators (AFP) is calling for an official deferral for MOTs on 4.25 tonne electric vans. According to the association, some fleets are finding tests “impossible” to book.
Fleets can run 4.25 tonne electric vans on a standard car driver’s licence.
For MOT test purposes, this special category of vans is treated as a heavy goods vehicle (HGV), meaning that it has to be tested at one year old rather than three, and also faces a more rigorous examination.
Aaron Powell, Fleet and Logistics Director at Speedy Hire is one AFP member being affected and reports 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 the 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. While the situation is being resolved, we 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, giving them time to find and book testing facilities. It is disappointing that businesses working in good faith to electrify their light commercial vehicle operations are being affected in this manner.”
She added that despite a willingness on the part of government to try and overcome issues surrounding 4.25 tonne vans, problems remained.