News Published on : 23-May-2022 15:47:45

The UK is heading towards an age of automatic cars brought forward by the upcoming ban on petrol and diesel engines with new analysis from Direct Line Motor Insurance suggesting the last person to take their driving test in a manual car could be born in just five years time. In 2030 the ban on the sale of new combustion engine cars will see petrol and diesel vehicles phased out and replaced by electric models that do not require a clutch. This will see a rapid shift to automatic cars with Direct Line s analysis suggesting that the transition is already well underway. With the average lifespan of a car around 14 years the last new combustion engine cars sold in 2029 will likely be scrapped by 2043 meaning that the last 17-year-olds learning to drive in a manual gearbox car will be born at some point during 2027. Analysis shows that motorists are already starting to shift to an automatic world away from a manual transmission with fewer and fewer people taking their driving test in a car with a clutch and stick shift gearbox. Research shows the share of tests taken in an automatic vehicle rose to 42 per cent of all driving tests in 2020/21. More than half of the 2.2 million people who learnt to drive in an automatic car (55 per cent or 1.2 million) are aged under 35 highlighting the shift away from manual cars in recent years. Currently manual cars still account for 70 per cent of the 31.7 million cars on UK s roads1.2. However last year over half (54 per cent) of new cars sold in Britain were automatic compared to around 20 per cent a decade ago. Further research by Direct Line reveals that the rise in electric cars accelerating the shift to an automatic age of driving is being spearheaded by younger people. Half of all electric vehicles currently on the road are owned by people aged under 35 with these cars accounting for 41 per cent of all automatic cars driven by this age group compared to just 13 per cent of those aged 35 or over. Looking ahead 8.6 million motorists (22 per cent) expect to switch to an electric vehicle by 2030 due to the phasing out of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. Around 11.4 million motorists (29 per cent) expect to switch following the ban probably in line with whenever they need to replace their existing car.