The MOT station 43 www.aftermarketonline.net FEBRUARY 2025 Investment in tech key to keep testing on track ISN Europe technical manager Mark Bristow on the future of the MOT and the role of ISN Garage Assist in developing the test to ensure it is fit for the future We are represented on the Garage Equipment Association (GEA) MOT working group, through MOT specialist Chris Pleass, something which also allows us to be at the forefront of testing technologies available to our customers. As vehicles develop, the challenge for the DVSA is to maintain an MOT Test that is effective and relevant to today’s vehicles and beyond. For example, should modern technologies on vehicles such as ADAS become part of the MOT? How you test these technologies cost effectively has become a huge challenge and it’s likely that any future trial will be along the lines of checks we already have for emissions control systems or ABS — where the vehicles own diagnostic information is checked, rather than checking the system itself. Either way, ISN Garage Assist is well placed to provide currently available state-of-the-art ADAS testing equipment and will be at the forefront of technological developments. As new tests are introduced into the MOT itself, we need to ensure there’s an environment where investment is encouraged. If fees do not increase (and they’ve remained unchanged for years) we must bear in mind that investment is required to retain accreditation, because the return-on-investment calculation for a test station becomes less interesting — and with more vehicles on the road each year, demand is increasing. Specific areas where there has been attention to date include headlamp beam testing (HBT). Today’s advanced LED headlamps are not adequately tested with the equipment currently in use. A new specification has been tested, but under the previous government this was ‘pushed into the long grass’. With the election out of the way, the focus might change again but don’t hold your breath! The DVSA is looking to tighten up the calibration procedure’s for HBT, but some would argue there are more important things to address. Meanwhile, particulate number (PN) testing is something that’s being rolled out in Germany. A UK trial in 2023, involving 1,800 vehicles and a variety of PN testing machines, revealed a failure rate of 5%. It is much lower on current emissions testing equipment as new diesel engines are too clean to register any significant readings on the current opacimeters. The DVSA is conducting a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ on the introduction of new equipment. Either way, at ISN we’re always looking to the future and have the new technology ready and waiting as soon as the DVSA make their decision. On electronic park brake testing, this can cause challenges on modern vehicles with the car being ejected from the brake rollers. So often a decelerometer is used which tests the overall deceleration of the vehicle when the handbrake is applied at a set speed. But many modern cars actually deploy the hydraulic braking system if the handbrake is applied above a certain speed — rendering the conventional decelerometer test unreliable under certain circumstances. Moves are afoot to change this at DVSA level; ISN Garage Assist has developed software for single wheel parking brake testing on current roller brake testers along with technology to allow the handbrake to be tested using the applied method. This applied method allows the handbrake to be applied and then the brake rollers build up force against the handbrake to try and move the wheels. There is also the question of whether the MOT for EVs should be different. With the exception of emissions testing, the vast majority of the existing MOT is entirely applicable to EVs. It might make sense to add a test for some additional items, such as the function of acoustic vehicle alerting systems, but there’s a lot of work to do on the relevance, feasibility and affordability of possible tests. For more information, call 01480 891011, visit https://bit.ly/4fSObFZ or scan the QR code.
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