A change in Spanish driving licences that could affect all drivers

The European Parliament has approved a proposal that, if it comes into force, would mean a significant change to the driving licence B, the one that most drivers in Spain have. The DGT has also introduced a new fine of up to 500 euros if you do not have it in the car when driving.

This is the classification that allows you to drive the most common cars, known as ‘turismos’, which in technical terms translates into vehicles with a maximum authorised weight of 3,500 kilograms, including vehicles with up to nine seats, vans and pickup trucks.

This is still the case today, but it may be about to change, as the European Parliament has approved a proposal that could increase the permitted weight of vehicles that can be driven with a ‘B licence’ up to 4,250 kilos.

This would mean that this type of licence would allow people to drive any motorhome that doesn’t exceed this weight without having to obtain a truck license, as long as you have had your B licence for at least two years.

But this is not all. If the measure is approved, the change would also make it possible to drive large electric cars, such as the electric Hummer, which is so heavy that you currently need a truck licence to drive.

The proposal had been in the air for some time since it was launched by the EFC (European Caravanning Federation), which requested that only motorhomes or campervans that ran on electricity could be driven.

But, finally, this increase of the maximum weight (MMA) from 3,500 kilos to a maximum of 4,250 kilos by the EU also means the inclusion of being able to drive SUVs or large electric cars.

Battery weight compensation

The proposal adds this measure with respect to electric cars with the aim of covering or compensating for the increase in weight that electric cars have because they operate on batteries, which weigh much more than the combustion engine of petrol or diesel cars.

This could be good news to increase the use of electric cars, but in the case of these vehicles of such large dimensions and such great weight, their initial carbon footprint would imply that hundreds of thousands of kilometres would have to be driven to compensate for that footprint.

As exemplified by 'Motorpasion', "a GMC Hummer EV has a 245kWh battery (five times that of an electric Renault Clio), so its carbon footprint will not be offset with only 70,000 km as an electric Volvo XC40 would."

At the moment the green light has not been given to the measure which, if done, would happen after the European elections in the first two weeks of June.