A driving instructor in Gloucester is taking a green approach to teaching novice drivers – by using an electric car.
Instructor Carol Pepperell is also one of the first people in the country to take advantage of the government’s new Plug-in Car Grant too, which has enabled her to have her home fitted with an electric car charger for no cost. She teaches pupils to drive in her battery-powered Nissan Leaf, and unlike other driving instructors she doesn’t have to go anywhere near a petrol station while she’s out and about.
She’s also pleased that despite putting more drivers on the road, she’s doing her bit to keep emissions down, as well as cutting her running costs down to just 2p a mile. She told the local press recently: “With my Nissan, there are no emissions and we should all be looking towards using products like this as it helps save our planet.
“Electric cars are the way forward and with the Government incentive given to me, the financial benefits are plain to see.
“Not having to visit petrol stations is a huge plus and all in all, the cost of running the car is considerably less.”
The practicalities of teaching in an electric car
While this innovation may be welcomed by the green lobby, there are some who feel that we’re still quite a way from electric driving schools from becoming the norm. Firstly, they are classified as an ‘automatic’ car so anyone taking their test in an electric car would not then be able to drive a manual car.
There are also questions about how it would change the dynamic of the teaching course itself, and whether instructors would have to radically rethink how they teach pupils to drive in an electric car. Whilst the fundamentals of roadcraft would remain unchanged, the practicalities of operating an electric car are very different. There may also be a question as to how going electric would affect things such as a driving instructor’s insurance policy, and whether specialist insurance would be required to cover pupils learning in electric cars.
There’s no doubt that electric cars are becoming more popular, so the question of how we teach the next generation of drivers in both traditional and electric vehicles needs to be addressed – and soon.