Van drivers will be able to operate heavier electric or
gas-powered vehicles without having to apply for a new
licence, as part of moves to improve air quality in towns
and cities across the country.
The reforms are a step towards the government’s aim for
nearly all cars and vans on our roads to be zero emission
by 2050.
Currently, a motorist with an ordinary category B licence
for a car can drive a van weighing up to 3,500kg. Cleaner
vans, especially those powered by electricity from
batteries, are generally heavier than conventional diesel
vans because of the battery they carry. This reduces the
amount of goods they can carry or means van drivers have
to apply for a category C licence with the associated
costs and medical report requirements.
Now the Department for Transport has
published plans to allow
motorists to drive vans weighing up to
4,250kg if they are powered by electricity,
natural gas, LPG or hydrogen.
Transport Minister said:
Vans have become essential to our economy and are vital
for our builders, small businesses and delivery
drivers. We have more of them on our roads than ever
before. That’s a good sign for the economy, but our
challenge is to try to tackle their impact on air
quality.
We want to make it easier for businesses to opt for
cleaner vehicles, and these proposals are designed to
do just that.
Road traffic estimates show there has been a rapid rise
in light goods vehicle traffic over the last 20 years, in
part powered by the growth in internet shopping.
In 2016 vans clocked up 49.1 billion vehicle miles – an
increase of 23% when compared with 2006. Vans spend much
of their time driving around our towns and cities and
over 96% of them are diesel powered so making them
greener is essential for people’s health and the
environment.
Head of Fleet at Ocado Stuart Skingsley said:
At Ocado, we are very keen to incorporate the latest
low-emission technologies in our vehicle fleet, but we
have been unable to do so, due to the extra weight of
the technology and category B licence restrictions.
This vital derogation would allow us to field the
latest alternatively fuelled vans, reducing harmful
emissions and improving the UK’s air quality.
A public
consultation is now open on the proposed new
measures and will last 12 weeks. They will help level the
playing field by addressing the payload penalty which
currently puts operators of cleaner vans at a commercial
disadvantage compared to operators of equivalent
conventionally-fuelled vehicles.
