YOTO Type-approval is harmonised across the EU. Registration is not. The vehicle can be legal everywhere and still fail to get plates in one member state because of a language requirement, a plate style or an inspection interval. Knowing where the variations sit is what turns a shipment into a registered vehicle.
The five steps #
- 01 Match the model to the category
Start from the licence your customer holds. The category follows from wheels, speed, power and mass — see the category guide.
- 02 Obtain the certificate for that type
Before ordering. The certificate must cover the exact variant: body style, seat count, battery configuration.
- 03 Fix the configuration and the documents
Colour, battery, packing, invoice and packing list. VIN photographs taken at the factory.
- 04 Import and declare
Customs entry with the vehicle category code your authority uses. Duties and VAT are settled here.
- 05 Register locally
The national office checks category, masses, seat count, plate and VIN against the certificate, then issues the plate.
The document set #
- Certificate of conformity
- Per vehicle, issued by the type-approval holder. The single most important document.
- Commercial invoice
- Exporter, importer, VIN, Incoterm. The VIN must match the certificate character for character.
- Customs declaration
- Import entry, with the category code used locally.
- VIN confirmation
- Photographs of the stamping and the statutory plate. Cheap to produce, expensive to lack.
- EU responsible person
- Name, postal address, email inside the Union. Required for market surveillance, and increasingly asked for in the registration file.
Where files stall #
| Point of failure | What happened | Prevention |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Certificate or invoice in a language the office will not accept untranslated | Ask the buyer which language version their office accepts, before the order |
| Plate | A private-label plate naming a manufacturer that differs from the certificate | Never fit a plate that disagrees with the certificate |
| Tyres | A locally available size substituted for the certified one | Check the certified list against local stock before quoting |
| Seats | A bench added after approval, or a body certified for fewer seats | Confirm the seat count is part of the approved type |
Country notes #
We keep per-country pages for the six markets we ship to first: France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Poland. Each sets out the registration route, the language issue and what usually stalls. They are written to be useful rather than exhaustive — the local office always has the last word.