Government seeks views on 4.25-tonne electric van regulations

Regulations related to annual vehicle testing, drivers’ hours and tachographs and speed limiter devices for electric vans are set to be defined, following a Government consultation.

The new consultation ‘Zero emission vans: regulatory flexibility’ seeks to reduce the barriers to electric van adoption by defining the regulations for vehicles that fall within the 4.25-tonne derogation.

It was launched alongside the Government's ZEV mandate and 2030 ICE car and van ban consultation.

The main proposals in this consultation are to: 

• transfer the annual testing of zero emission goods vehicles (ZEGVs), with a GVW of 3.5t to 4.25t, from the heavy vehicle testing system to the MOT network, with the tests used for 3t to 3.5t goods vehicles put in place 
• amend annual testing schedules for ZEGVs, with a MAM of 3.5t to 4.25t, so their first test is after three years from first registration (and annually thereafter) 
• remove ZEGVs with a MAM of 3.5t to 4.25t (and when used with a trailer in a combination with a MAM up to 7t) from the requirements for tachograph use, the assimilated drivers’ hours rules (Regulation (EC) 561/2006, as it has effect in the UK) and specific road transport working time rules when used within Great Britain (GB).

To support uptake of electric vans, in 2018 the UK introduced a derogation to driving licence rules, which allowed category B licence holders (the standard car driving licence) to drive alternatively fuelled goods vans with a maximum authorised weight of 4.25t.

Usually, to drive a vehicle above 3.5t a C or C1 licence would be required. In October 2023, the previous government published a consultation response on additional flexibility for the driving licence derogation. This announced that the derogation would remain in place and further flexibilities would be added, such as: removing the additional five-hour training requirement, expanding the vehicle type beyond goods vehicles and adding a towing allowance.

More than a year after this announcement, none of required policy announcements were made.

In launching its new consultation, the Government said it is now considering the proposals in the previous consultation response, to explore how the driving licence flexibility can be further optimised.

The consultation period began on December 24, 2024, and will run until March 3, 2025.