New MOT regulation in Spain

The European Commission wants to reduce the negative impact of transport on environment and health

Road transport is responsible for around a fifth of CO2 emissions in the European Union.

Apart from CO2, combustion vehicles also emit other polluting particles that affect air quality and can have serious consequences for health.

Furthermore, older vehicles are the most polluting, and in Spain the average age of the vehicle fleet is over 14 years.

Towards a test to measure the amount of polluting particles emitted by vehicles

Currently, the MOT test only measures smoke opacity in diesel vehicles and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from gasoline cars.

The new Periodical Technical Inspection, already introduced in several EU countries such as Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, aims to make it mandatory to measure particulate matter from light-duty diesel vehicles (passenger cars and vans) with Euro 5F emissions standards or later, or vehicles registered after December 31, 2013.

Therefore, in addition to ensuring that vehicles on the road meet minimum safety requirements, MOT stations will also be responsible for ensuring that they protect the environment by testing fine particle pollution from exhaust emissions.

It is a relatively simple, quick, and inexpensive procedure, and also effective. To carry it out, MOT testing centers will have to be equipped with specific equipment, similar to that already used in other European countries.

The test will be similar to the one currently carried out with the smokemeter, a probe is inserted into the exhaust pipe and the vehicle is left idling so that the equipment can measure the gases.