The UK Department for Transport’s has recently launched a consultation on proposals to extend the date of the first MOT for a car from two to three years. In response the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) has worked with the Garage Industry Trends organisation to gather evidence as to why this would significantly increase road user risk.

The analysis has produced some interesting findings, especially in relation to electric vehicles. For example based on MOT test records, it was found that electric vehicles are much more likely to fail their first MOT test. EV failure rates for 2018 registered vehicles were 11.51%, while petrol was 10.89%. 

The data also shows that EVs fail more on dangerous items than petrol vehicles, especially tyres. 46% of all failure items for electric vehicles are related to tyres, compared to 32% for petrol vehicles.

Hayley Pells, Policy Manager at the IMI commented, “The data shows that electric vehicles tend to fail on their tyres more than traditional petrol vehicles. If the first MOT is extended this will be a serious concern for road safety as well as potentially having a significant impact on consumer confidence in electric vehicles.”

Hayley added, “The IMI’s response to the MOT Consultation will strongly advise that increasing the time before a periodic inspection of cars is detrimental for road safety. It reduces the frequency of maintenance and inspections that are critical to ensuring that vehicles are in good condition and performing at their best.”

The IMI points out that electric vehicles wear their tyres differently to traditional petrol vehicles because of driving characteristics such as increased weight and greater instant torque. This faster wear can cause issues such as, less traction, less responsive steering, increased braking distances and a great risk of blow outs.