Automatic/electric car driving lessons in Telford area

If you don't fancy changing gear as many people don't, why not consider taking your test in an automatic/electric vehicle? This does remove one of the most difficult things that beginners have to contend with - changing gears!

You should be aware that passing a test in an automatic vehicle allows you to drive either an automatic or an electric vehicle.

A word about modern automatics. Please do not be influenced by stories from people who drove automatic cars in the early days. They might tell you about unreliability and expensive repairs. Whilst that was true, for the last 40 years, automatics have been very reliable and simple to use, they don't use more fuel than a manual which used to be the case and providing they are serviced properly, should last thousands of miles without problems.

Nowadays I use a hybrid car which uses a petrol engine combined with an electric motor and battery. When driving around town at slow speeds, the electric motor kicks in and you get a lovely silent, comfortable ride with no need to worry about gears. On faster roads the petrol engine comes to life and the car behaves like a normal car fitted with automatic transmission. The car switches seamlessly between the two power units. The car also uses regenerative braking which means that, under braking conditions, the car's battery gets recharged automatically.

Many people believe that you have less control with an automatic but that is not the case. Unless you want to enter a motor race, (when manual is best), an automatic has many advantages. They are easy to control, use about the same amount of fuel as a manual and are fantastic when you get stuck in traffic and you watch all those other drivers struggling to keep creeping along whilst you simply tap one pedal occasionally. There are people who just won't drive a manual car and 90 per cent of cars in the USA are autos! As a bonus they are also safer and it's easier to pass your test!

Pictured above is the interior of my Seat Leon e-HYBRID (PHEV) which I use for training. The car is roomy, easy to drive, very safe and has excellent vision all round.