The Department for Transport has approved the rollout of Euro 6e emissions vehicles onto UK roads after reviewing evidence from a public consulation.
To be eligible to drive and be sold on UK roads, vehicles must meet certain emission and safety requirements.
Motor vehicles are required to be type-approved against safety and environmental rules before they go on sale.
This enables Government agencies to ensure that manufacturers are producing vehicles that are compatible with UK road regulations and adhere to environmental goals.
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Manufacturers may need to apply to the Vehicle Certification Agency for GB type approval
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Having left the EU, the Department for Transport decided to establish its own emission rules for vehicles.
In October last year, the Department published a consultation on whether they should permit Euro 6e emissions standards for cars and light goods vehicles as an alternative to the current Euro 6d requirement.
The responses were overwhelmingly in favour of the proposed GB approval rules with respondents stating that the EU standards do not affect the visibility of the rear registration plate and there is no reduction in safety by permitting the regulations.
The changes mean that manufacturers will need to apply to the Vehicle Certification Agency for GB type approval to ensure they comply with the new Euro 6e rules instead of the Euro 6d version.
Euro 6 is the latest exhaust emission standard for new cars and is a minimum requirement for diesel vehicles in a number of Clean Air Zones, as well as the London Ulez.
Introduced in 2014, Euro 6 has four different versions, Euro 6d was a requirement for emissions standards in January 2021 but now the latest version Euro 6e is coming into effect.
The DfT stated that the new GB whole vehicle type approval scheme will take effect for most new vehicle types from February 2024.
All motor vehicles which carry passengers or goods which are to be produced on or after February 1, 2026, will have to be tested for pollutant emissions, according to the original consultation document.
Euro 6e includes changes to the laboratory and on-road test procedures and is a more stringent environmental requirement for vehicle manufacturers to meet than Euro 6d.
As for electric vehicles, although not regulated in the same way, they are required by law to emit a special sound at low speeds, to assist groups such as people with vision issues who might not otherwise be aware of their presence.
Offering an update on the consultation, the Department for Transport added: “The benefits of international harmonisation include that it reduces the complexity faced by manufacturers in attempting to understand and test vehicles to numerous national standards, and gives rise to economies of scale in manufacture, thus lowering costs.”
“We are proposing to update domestic legislation to ensure that the scheme accepts UNECE regulations that the UK has signed and thus indicated that it will accept, for subjects that currently form part of the GB type approval scheme.”
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Euro 6d was a requirement for emissions standards in January 2021
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This consultation ran from October 12, 2023, to November 10, 2023, and received 33 responses in total.