M1
Passenger cars
Vehicles with up to eight passenger seats besides the driver.
The essential homologation guide
Vehicles, translated into approval.
A practical field guide to European vehicle type-approval: categories, framework regulations and the requirements that turn a vehicle into a road-legal product.
13 vehicle categories
3 framework families
∞ technical details, clarified
01 / The map
Find your vehicle's place in the system.
Categories describe the intended use and architecture of a vehicle. They set the door into the applicable approval regime.
M2
Small buses
More than eight seats, with a maximum mass up to 5 tonnes.
M3
Large buses
More than eight seats, with a maximum mass over 5 tonnes.
N1
Light goods vehicles
Goods vehicles with a maximum mass not exceeding 3.5 tonnes.
N2
Medium goods vehicles
Goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and up to 12 tonnes.
N3
Heavy goods vehicles
Goods vehicles with a maximum mass exceeding 12 tonnes.
O1
Light trailers
Trailers with a maximum mass not exceeding 0.75 tonnes.
O2
Utility trailers
Trailers over 0.75 tonnes and up to 3.5 tonnes.
O3
Heavy trailers
Trailers over 3.5 tonnes and up to 10 tonnes.
O4
Extreme-load trailers
Trailers with a maximum mass exceeding 10 tonnes.
T
Agricultural tractors
Wheeled or tracked tractors for agricultural and forestry use.
L
Powered two-wheelers
Two-, three- and four-wheel vehicles such as mopeds and motorcycles.
02 / The rulebook
Three families. One approval conversation.
Framework regulations define the architecture of the process. Their delegated and implementing acts supply the detailed technical requirements for each vehicle family.
Open Regulation (EU) 2018/85801
Motor vehicles & trailers
Regulation (EU) 2018/858 is the framework for M and N motor vehicles and O trailers. It covers whole-vehicle, type, system and component approval, including conformity of production and market surveillance.
02
Agricultural & forestry tractors
Regulation (EU) No 167/2013 establishes requirements for T, C, R and S vehicles, supported by delegated acts on functional safety, environmental performance and construction requirements.
03
Two- and three-wheel vehicles
Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 covers L-category vehicles. It brings together functional safety, environmental performance, vehicle construction and type-approval obligations.
04
What the approval file needs
Expect an information folder, test reports, certificates, drawings and a conformity-of-production plan. The authority checks the type, the manufacturer and the ongoing consistency of production.
03 / The language
Small definitions. Big consequences.
These terms from 2018/858 are the coordinates used by authorities, technical services and manufacturers.
- Type
- A group of vehicles that do not differ in essential aspects such as design, powertrain or chassis.
- Variant
- A vehicle within a type that may differ in characteristics such as body style, engine or mass.
- Version
- A vehicle within a variant whose individual configuration is described by the information package.
- Type-approval
- The procedure by which an approval authority certifies that a vehicle type meets the relevant administrative and technical requirements.
- Manufacturer
- The person or body responsible to the approval authority for every aspect of the approval process and production conformity.
- Approval authority
- The authority a Member State establishes or designates to handle approval matters and issue approval certificates.
- Technical service
- An organisation designated by an approval authority to carry out testing and assessment work on its behalf.
- Conformity of production
- Arrangements ensuring that every manufactured vehicle continues to conform to the approved type.
- End-of-series
- Vehicles in stock that cannot be registered, sold or entered into service because new requirements have taken effect.
Good approval starts with a clear question.
Identify the category. Find its framework. Then trace every technical requirement back to the exact vehicle configuration.
Trace a vehicle