Comment: Fleets face further problems over 4.25 tonne electric vans

Paul Hollick, chair, Association of Fleet Professionals, comments on the problems fleets face over 4.25 tonne electric vans
When they were announced by the Department of Transport (DFT) in 2019, 4.25 tonne vans seemed like a great idea – a special category of electric light commercial vehicle that recognised how the extra weight of batteries would affect 3.5 tonne vans and could be driven by anyone with a standard B licence.
It all looked quite straightforward. However, fleets have since become bogged down in a whole series of issues. It’s not possible to cover all of them here but essentially, the Office for Zero Emissions believe these vehicles have been deregulated from all of the operator responsibilities that normally apply to vans over 3.5 tonnes whereas the Driver Vehicle Standards Authority and the DFT believe some still apply.
Part of this debate means 4.25 tonners are perceived to be heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) for the purposes of the MOT. As a result, tests apply from 12 months old and are more arduous than for a normal van.
This is all the subject of a consultation, announced by the government in December but, in the meantime, a further issue has now arisen. Some AFP members are reporting that booking their one-year-old 4.25 tonne vans for testing is proving somewhere between difficult and impossible, both for reasons of limited capacity for HGV tests and because many MOT test centres just can’t handle electric vehicles.
As a result, these fleets are having to take their vans off the road and we are therefore backing calls for some form of immediate special dispensation that allows the MOT test to be deferred in these cases for six months or longer. This seems like a sensible holding measure while the consultation is completed, and we are hopeful that the government will adopt the idea.