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MOT DATA LAB

How much do vehicles travel?

Compare mileage across a matched MOT cohort, then inspect the separately audited roadworthiness analysis.

Mileage evidence

December 2024–December 2025 · Great Britain · 1,268,479 matched vehicles

1,268,479Matched vehicles
7.9×P90 ÷ P10 interval mileage
45.0%Miles driven by the highest-use 20%

Annualised mileage between tests

December 2024–December 2025 · Great Britain · 1,268,479 matched vehicles

P101,748miles per year
Median5,981miles per year
P9013,803miles per year

The 90th percentile is 7.9 times the 10th percentile in this matched cohort. Percentiles describe vehicle use, not claim frequency.

Definitions and coverage

P10, median and P90 are points in the annualised mileage distribution. The matched cohort compares recorded odometer readings between normal tests. Coverage, fuel and vehicle class definitions differ from the separate roadworthiness build; neither result measures insurance claims.

Audited roadworthiness

Separate reviewed raw-data build · 2022-01-01–2025-12-31. Compare failures at the same age and mileage.

MOT DATA LAB / ROADWORTHINESS

Does the difference persist?

Compare roadworthiness at the same age and mileage, then test whether the pattern holds across years.

Explore mileage evidence ↗Download cells CSVDownload outcomes CSV

Reviewed analytical build

2022-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · 35,879,674 unique vehicles · 117,537,248 vehicle-years

Evidence release: lens-2026-09-25-a1fc94c9307e · Build: 719eec692a459667

Comparison

Initial failures include passes after rectification (PRS). Denominator: first completed normal Class 4 test per vehicle per year. Vehicles with inconsistent fuel codes are excluded across all years; see Data quality and Sensitivity.

Battery electric

24.0%

23.3%–24.8% · 370,464 vehicles

66.5% of fixed reference population · 40 shared strata

Petrol

21.8%

21.8%–21.8% · 10,548,831 vehicles

66.5% of fixed reference population · 40 shared strata

Adjusted difference: 2.2 percentage points (1.5 to 3.0). Higher in this cohort.

Definitions, uncertainty and limits

Coverage starts no earlier than 2022, after DVSA mileage-unit and fuel classification changes. Class 4 is broader than passenger cars. Each vehicle contributes one first completed normal test per year; partial and full retests are excluded from the main rate. This differs from all-test statistics and must not be presented as a direct reproduction without cohort alignment.

Raw and individual-cell intervals use Wilson 95% intervals. Adjusted rates use one frozen reference population and strata with at least 100 vehicles in both fuels in every year. Conservative distribution-free intervals allow a pairwise difference with at least 95% coverage under within-year vehicle independence. Precision does not remove selection bias, make/model confounding or source errors. All intervals are pointwise; exploratory comparisons are not multiplicity-adjusted.

MOT roadworthiness does not measure battery state of health, breakdowns, repairs between tests, software reliability, warranty cost or insurance claim risk. This Lab tests hypotheses; it cannot guarantee a preferred conclusion.

Official DVSA source and data guide ↗

Through The Actuary Lens

Distance travelled is one dimension of exposure. MOT mileage does not identify where or when a vehicle was driven, the keeper’s address, battery health or insurance losses.

Pay Per Mile trackerElectric Mobility tracker

Sources & release

Analysis period: December 2024–December 2025 · Approved release: 25/09/2026 · Validation: 25/09/2026

The analysis above is from the approved release. Later checks cannot change published findings until reviewed and approved.

Inspect 1 relevant source
SourceRecorded source periodChecked in releaseValidated in releaseCurrent source check
Anonymised MOT test and result dataDecember 2024–December 202522/09/202625/09/2026No source issue recorded
Technical release IDlens-2026-09-25-a1fc94c9307e