Search
Close this search box.
Sign up for our weekly Newsletter

MOT loophole for electric vans closed

A loophole that allowed electric vans to run without an MOT has now been closed, a move welcomed by the fleet management company Arval to improve operational issues around electric van usage.
Jersey Post Nissan e NV200
Electric vans bring many benefits to fleets but, says Arval, and now the MOT loophole has been closed this has removed some operational issues

Share

10 April 2018

A LOOPHOLE not requiring electric vans to have an MOT has been closed

The fleet management company, Arval, said it welcomed the move that for all electric vans registered before March 01, 2015, this loophole had been plugged.

Arval said that the previous absence of a test – and, for those over 3.5 tonnes GVW, no O-Licence either – was a potential issue as a key element of the maintenance structure for fleets running these vehicles.

Eddie Parker, Fleet CV Consultant at Arval, explained:

Eddie Parker LCV consultant at Arval
Eddie Parker: legislation was lagging

“The legislation covering electric vans was lagging some way behind the current situation, being really designed for a time when the only common electric commercial vehicles were milk floats.

“We’re pleased to see this loophole has been closed as it was creating operational difficulties.

“Because fleet vans are often run into three, four and five years, the MOT provides useful structure for fleets when it comes to maintaining vehicles, as well as proving that they are being looked after to legal standards.”

Parker added that a further complication was that electric vans were also legally viewed as wheeled items of electrical plant and therefore affected by rules covering electrical equipment in the workplace such as The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016.

“The legislation here is largely common sense but it should be kept in mind because it does constitute a further legal responsibility for fleets and may need building into relevant fleet and health and safety policies.”

Nevertheless, Parker believes that electric vans offer many operational advantages and should become a key part of the fleet mix.

“Our view is that pressure to reduce city centre emissions will mean that adoption of electric vans by certain fleets could be quite rapid and we are very much behind this trend.

“The improvements that we are seeing in the new generation of models including improved range, faster charging and bigger payloads are all very positive developments.

“However, the truth is that there is very little expertise in the fleet industry about their operation.”

Arval is launching a new guide at the CV Show (April 24-26) named Delivering the future: A guide to operating electric vans.

This Arval guide is aimed at providing operational guidance for fleets commencing operation of electric vans.

Eddie added:

“There is quite a lot of information available designed to help fleets decide whether they should run electric vans but not so much about their actual day-to-day operation.

“Our new guide is designed to quickly familiarise fleet operators with the main issues and concerns that they need to know about and our consultants will be happy to help if they need further information.”

Eddie Parker was one of the independent judges in the Business Van of the Year Awards, run by our sister title Business Vans.

Share this article

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Reddit
Email

Want more motoring news?

Sign up here for our free weekly serving of motoring.

Sign up here for our free weekly serving of motoring.

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

Latest news

Top