Guidance

Plug-in wheelchair accessible vehicle grant: meeting the warranty criterion

Published 14 June 2022

To be considered eligible for a grant under the PiWG scheme, applicants are required to offer a warranty to consumers.

This must conform with the requirements of Directive 1999/44/EC. The warranty must also be transferable to the consumer’s successors in title to the vehicle for the balance of the warranty period.

The Department for Transport (DfT) does not intend dictating the precise terms of the warranty to be provided by applicants to consumers.

The full extent of the warranty provided by applicants will be largely determined by market forces and it will be a key differential selling point for vehicles of this type.

DfT reserves the right to disqualify an application should it believe the warranty being offered by the applicant as failing to meet the minimum criteria required by DfT.

In addition, the applicant must be able to satisfy DfT that it is able to fulfil the terms of the warranty being offered by it.

Vehicle warranty requirements

To qualify for a grant under the PiWG, the applicant must as a minimum requirement provide the following to the consumer:

• a warranty of at least 3 years or 60,000 miles (96,500km) from the date of transfer of ownership to the consumer, regarding the vehicle excluding the battery or fuel cell and electric drive train

For avoidance of doubt, the warranty should cover all equipment supplied with the vehicle, including the charge cable.

External equipment installed in the customers’ home, for example charging units, does not need to be covered by the vehicle warranty.

Energy storage and drive train warranty

‘Drive train’ refers to the parts that send power from the engine to the wheels. These include the:

• clutch
• transmission (gear box)
• drive shafts
• U-joints and differential

In addition to the vehicle warranty, the energy storage and drive train must be covered by:

• a warranty of at least 3 years or 60,000 miles (96,500km) from the date of transfer of ownership to the consumer
• the applicant must offer to the consumer the option of extending the warranty by a further 2 years, the applicant 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 of the vehicle 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 repair or replace defective parts free of charge.

Free of charge in this context 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 from the consumer or representative:

• negligence
• improper use
• faulty storage
• insufficient care
• modification of the vehicle

Glossary

Applicants: manufacturers, their agents, or importers of vehicles to benefit from the grant. It does not refer to converters of the vehicle.

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.