News Published on : 25-Oct-2021 12:53:08

Four-in-10 parents in the UK would already prefer their children to jump straight into a fully electric vehicle and skip petrol and diesel car driving when learning to drive yet nearly a third believe it will be harder to learn to drive in one and own one according to new research by Peugeot. Following the study Peugeot took a group of 10 -16-year-olds to a closed circuit to showcase how simple learning to drive and owning an electric car is. The research found 40% of parents would like to see their children learn to drive in an electric car while a quarter of parents admit their children regularly pester them about switching from their diesel or petrol car to an electric vehicle. Highlighting the rapidly growing trend among both parents and future drivers towards electrification the research also comes after a record sales month for electric vehicles in the UK with more than 32 000 fully electric cars registered in September 2021 alone. While the lower running costs and environmental benefits of electric vehicles are well understood Peugeot s research also found 28% of respondents believe learning to drive an electric car and owning one would be more difficult compared to a standard petrol or diesel model. To showcase just how simple EV driving and ownership is Peugeot provided a class of 10 - 16-year-olds with a driving lesson at Bedford Autodrome with dedicated tutorials run by professional drivers on how to live with and own an electric car. Sat behind the wheel of the Peugeot e-208 the young drivers were first taught basic manoeuvres such as starting stopping and parking along with essential elements of EV ownership such as how to conserve your miles charging your car and switching between driving modes.