Get Ready, Parents: Many Teen Drivers Will Learn in EVs After years of budding interest in electric cars, it seems that Americans are finally going electric. As of June 2022, electric vehicles made up 5.7% of new car registrations, according to . This new wave of electric cars on the road means that the next generation of drivers – the children of these new electric vehicle owners – will likely learn how to drive an electric car.
For some student drivers, the future of electric vehicles already exists with in-school driver education programs that use electric vehicles for hands-on instruction. In a few Chicago public high schools, for example, students are learning to drive in electric vehicles, and in the near future, the plan is for the entire fleet to be electric, said Angelo Mihalopoulos, a Chicago Public Schools driver education and social studies teacher.
Electric vehicles, especially second-hand ones, can be a great first car for first-time drivers, although inventory issues have made finding an affordable used electric vehicle, or any used car, difficult at the moment. Although it’s shifted to cover fewer new EVs right now, 2023, starting at $29,135 (including destination), is eligible for the credit. And in 2023, it will — and — other great options for teens — again qualify for federal tax credits.
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Why are electric vehicles useful for teenage drivers
1. Active Security Features: Teen drivers need all the help they can get, and newer electric vehicles have many active safety features such as forward collision warning, which uses sensors to monitor vehicles in front of your vehicle and automatically applies the brakes in the event of an imminent collision, and rear cross-traffic alert that tells The driver when the vehicle is approaching when reversing from a parking space.
2. Teen Driver Technique: Parents also need help with new drivers, and features like Chevrolet’s can give parents some ideas about how to drive their teen. Available in Bolt EV and EUV, the system allows parents to set a speed alert and speed limiter, volume limits, and seat belt reminders that prevent the driver from getting out of Park if the seat belt is not buckled. Some might say this tech is Big Mother, ahem, Brother, but with teenage drivers it’s a good idea to set boundaries around their driving until they develop their skills. In a Cars.com survey, 88% of respondents said they were at least somewhat confident in their knowledge of parental control technology.
3. Less Maintenance: Electric vehicles require less maintenance than vehicles with internal combustion engines because their battery, engine, and associated electronics require little or no maintenance. Electric vehicles also contain fewer fluids, such as motor oil, and regenerative braking means much less brake wear.
4. One-pedal driving: They are found in some electric vehicles, and the driver can activate them to allow them to use the accelerator only to increase or slow down. When the accelerator pedal is released, or depressurized, the vehicle will decelerate much more quickly than a gas-powered vehicle. This can help teens who are still learning how to judge distances when driving.
Why teenagers should not drive electric cars
1. General Shipping: If you have a car at home, keeping your electric vehicle charged is not a problem for everyday driving. But if your teen must rely on public charging stations, it could add a layer of complexity to electric vehicle ownership. More is available online, but it’s not always in a convenient location and can get busy, which means your teen driver may need to hang out in a parking lot waiting for his turn. And for teens who live in cold weather, they will need to tap the universal charger more frequently because cold temperatures affect the electric vehicle’s range, causing it to drop by up to 40%.
2. Rear wheel drive: Many newer electric vehicles have rear-wheel drive as the primary drivetrain. Rear-wheel drive cars require dexterity when driving—something teenage drivers are not known to have—because they are more likely to overdrive than front-wheel drive vehicles. The good news is that electric vehicles have a better weight distribution than older gas-powered RWDs and have a lot of weight due to their battery packs.
3. Instant torque: Electric vehicles can be amazingly fast; Just press the accelerator pedal and the car will sprint quickly to reach further. It’s one of the things that makes driving electric cars so much fun, but for teenage drivers, it can bring a lot of temptation.
If heartburn flares up at the thought of driving your teen, I get it. My husband and I have started teaching our youngest son to drive; He’ll learn in our car, the 2022 Hyundai Ionic 5 all-electric and the 2019 Hyundai Ioniq plug-in hybrid. Our blood pressure has survived our oldest son’s learning to drive, although combining the highway with a teenage driver is his heart-strain test.
Parents are an important part of teens learning how to drive. “The safest teen drivers are those whose parents take an active role in the learning process and understand that their children will need to practice the skills they are learning in school,” Mihalopoulos said.
For teens, this means they will need a lot of practice, and for parents, they will need more patience.
