Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of changing regulations on the weight of vans during the transition to electric vehicles.

Electric powertrains can make zero emission vans heavier than their petrol or diesel equivalents. To incentivise the uptake of electric vans with a viable payload (weight of goods they can carry), the Department has increased the regulatory weight threshold from 3.5 tonnes to 4.25 tonnes for driver licence and operator licence rules.

The Department has announced plans to further optimise these driver licence rules by removing current conditions for utilising this additional weight allowance. The Government is also reviewing weight thresholds that impact regulations for electric vans in other areas, including roadworthiness testing (MOT) and drivers’ hours rules. Safety is a primary consideration in assessing any changes to regulatory weight thresholds.