Plug-in van and truck grant: meeting the warranty criterion
Updated 24 November 2023
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To be eligible to receive the grants, a warranty must be offered to the consumer by the applicant.
This must conform to the requirements of Directive 1999/44/EC.
The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) does not intend to dictate the precise terms of the warranty to be provided by applicants to consumers.
The full extent of the warranty provided by applicants will largely be determined by market forces.
OZEV reserves the right to disqualify an application should it believe the warranty being offered by the applicant fails to meet the minimum criteria required by OZEV.
In addition, the applicant must be able to satisfy OZEV that it can fulfil the terms of the warranty being offered by it.
Warranty requirements
To qualify for a grant under the PIVG or PITrG, the applicant must as a minimum requirement provide to the consumer a warranty of at least 3 years or 60,000 miles (96,500 km) from the date of transfer of ownership to the consumer.
The warranty should cover all equipment supplied with the vehicle, including the charge cable.
External equipment installed in the customers’ home, such as charging units, does not need to be covered by the vehicle warranty
Heavy duty vehicles
For heavy duty vehicles, a warranty of 2 years with unlimited mileage is also acceptable.
Energy storage and drive train warranty
The battery or fuel cell and electric drive train must be covered by a warranty for a minimum period of 3 years, or 60,000 miles (96,500km), whichever comes sooner.
In addition, if the warranty is less than 5 years, the customer must be offered the option to extend the warranty by a minimum of 2 years. Applicants may choose to attach an additional cost to this warranty extension.
Where the battery or fuel cell and broader electric drive train is leased to the customer, the leasing agreement must offer a level of support to the customer that is at least equivalent to the above-mentioned warranty.
The applicant must guarantee to the consumer that the battery or fuel cell and electric drive train will retain a reasonable degree of performance for the period of the warranty.
In the event of a fault or deficiency in performance being found in the battery or full cell or electric drive train of the vehicle, the applicant must undertake to repair or replace defective parts free of charge.
In this context, free of charge refers to the necessary costs incurred including the cost of postage, labour and materials.
The applicant may limit its liability under the warranty or thereafter for any fault or deficiency in performance if this arises from normal wear and tear, or the following actions by the consumer or representative:
- negligence
- improper use
- faulty storage
- insufficient maintenance
- modification of the vehicle
The warranty must be transferable to the consumer’s successors in title to the vehicle for the balance of the warranty period.
Glossary
Applicants: manufacturers, their agents or importers of vehicles.
Consumers: purchasers of vehicles and their successors in title.
Directive 1999/44/EC: this directive of the European Parliament and the Council of 25 May 1999 concerns certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees.