New driving licences rules for heavier electric vehicles (EVs) officially came into force on Tuesday 10th June 2025.
The rules mean that EVs (including vans, minibuses, SUVs, trucks and any vehicle that can be driven up to 3.5 tonnes if they were petrol) will come in line with the rules for petrol and diesel vehicles.
It means that standard category B licence holders are able to drive zero-emissions vehicles up to 4.25 tonnes in weight, giving more flexibility to drivers beyond just light goods vehicles.
The reason for the 4.25 tonne limit rather than the standard 3.5 tonnes is to account for the weight of the vehicle’s battery, while you’re now also able to tow a trailer if the maximum authorised mass (MAM) of the combined vehicle and trailer doesn’t exceed 7 tonnes.
The good news for those that don’t hold a category B licence is that the additional five-hour training requirement has been removed.
That’s along with the changes to the towing allowances, while drivers who passed their category B driving test prior to 1st January 1997 are able to drive vehicle and trailer combinations with a higher weight of up 8.25 tonnes.
The DfT confirmed the news and gave hope to fleets that regulations around EVs will become increasingly flexible as time goes on, with announcements to be made around annual vehicle testing and speed limiting devices in due course.
It’s hoped that will help speed up what has recently been a slower take-up of EVs by the fleet industry.
For fleets, routine licence checking is a crucial part of safety checks, which is why at Driving Monitor, our Licence Monitor is so important.
Plus, all of your employee’s licence data is secure as we’re a member of the Association for Driving Licence Verification.
Have you begun the electric switchover of your fleet vehicles? If not, is it on the agenda in the near future? Let us know…
