Cybetruck stopped on a highway in Germany. Polish registration, driver from Sweden. It is already at the police station.

The fact that the European Union has issued recommendations to raise the allowable gross weight for electric vehicles from 3.5 to 4.25 tons does not mean they have become law in every European country. This was learned from a certain Cybertruck driver in Sweden, who ended his journey on the A99 highway near Munich (Germany). His vehicle was too heavy for the driving license category he held, and it was towed away.

Tesla Cybertruck: Misunderstanding the Regulations

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Tesla Cybertruck: Misunderstanding the Regulations

Well, what about EU law?

According to TZ, the 50-year-old driver from Sweden held a category B driving license, which under current pan-European regulations allows driving vehicles with a maximum permissible weight of 3.5 tons. The electric pickup stopped on the road had a maximum permissible weight of 4.2 tons, which exceeds what category B permits. Although the DMC Cybertruck’s weight was 50 kilograms lower than the revised limit for vehicles powered by alternative fuels (4.25 tons), this did not help the Swedish driver. Not in Germany.

The pickup was towed off the highway and placed at the police station in Hohenbrunn (Germany; Google Maps HERE). It will wait there for a driver with a license of the appropriate category, namely at least C1 (source). The vehicle does not have European homologation, and Tesla currently has no plans to sell it on the Old Continent. The car had Polish registration, so it was approved for use on public roads in Poland. In Germany, this might not be possible because the pickup’s body has sharp edges that are dangerous to pedestrians – Polish certification authorities are less concerned about people than German ones...

Swiss advanced technology aimed at adapting the Cybertruck to European regulations (c) Teslab.ch

Okay, what about EU law?

Theoretically, an electric vehicle with a DMC exceeding 3.5 tons can be driven by someone holding a category B driver’s license, as long as its DMC is up to 4.25 tons. This comes from EU recommendations regarding electric vehicles. The problem is that it’s not as simple as it might seem: the regulations were adopted quite some time ago, back in the last decade, and they were in the form of recommendations, so THEY did NOT automatically become law applicable throughout the European Union.

Cybertruck stopped on a German highway (c) Hohenbrunn police

In addition, the driver must hold a valid driver’s license for at least two years, as clearly explained by the website Dostawczakiem.pl. They are subject to speed limits for heavy vehicles, meaning a maximum of 80 km/h on expressways. Finally, a speed limiter set to a maximum of 90 km/h is required, along with paying the appropriate road usage fees (ViaTOLL).

A setup like this even in Poland requires a driving license of a higher category than B

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