european-union driving
Does a process exist to legally drive a homemade car?
<p>Let's say that I have a very old car, install scrapped, recicled, off-the-shelf and/or handcrafted components, and effectively create a brand new car, completely different fron the original one, both in terms of specifications, equipment and possibily even aesthetics.</p>

<p><em>Given that all security, quality, environmental and legal requirements required by the country's legislation are met, does a process to legally register and drive this car on the public road exist? (so obtain a license plate and such)</em></p>

<p>Clearly car manufacturers have this process, but my guess is that it involves thousands of hours of testing and millons of euros spent, so that makes me raise some doubts on the feasibility for an individual.</p>

<p>I live in Europe, but I'm also interested in the situation in other parts of the world, where I assum there is more "freedom" in this sense.</p>

<p>In <a href="/questions/tagged/germany" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;germany&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="germany-container">germany</a>, this is called &quot;Einzelbetriebserlaubnis&quot; (individual operation permit) or short EBE and is defined in <a href="https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stvzo_2012/__21.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">StVZO §21</a>.</p>
<p>I was once involved in getting this for prototype/demonstration vehicles.</p>
<p>In Germany, the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (Federal Motor Transport Authority) <a href="https://www.kba.de/EN" rel="nofollow noreferrer">KBA</a> is handling all vehicle approvals.</p>
<p>They require that an accredited authority, e.g. TÜV or DEKRA, check that you fulfill all requirements and present them with the paperwork.</p>
<p>These authorities also have a service to guide you through the process. At least we would have been lost without their help.</p>
<p>The costs for handling a single EBE summed up to 5 or 6 digits because it also includes renting of accredited test labs including accredited engineers.</p>

<p><a href="/questions/tagged/united-kingdom" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;united-kingdom&#39;" rel="tag">united-kingdom</a></p>

<p>In the UK (which for now at least is still part of the European Union) then this is possible via <a href="https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-approval/individual-vehicle-approval" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Individual Vehicle Approval</a></p>

<p>This process includes an inspection of the vehicle to ensure it meets the necessary legal standards, which you <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/individual-vehicle-approval-inspection-fees/individual-vehicle-approval-iva-inspection-fees-from-1-october-2014" rel="nofollow noreferrer">need to pay for</a> and there are <a href="https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-approval/individual-vehicle-approval-application-forms" rel="nofollow noreferrer">several forms to complete</a>.</p>

<p>From the linked lists, the costs vary depending on the specifics of the vehicle but are in the range of a few hundred pounds - probably a small part of the overall cost of such a project!</p>
