Newslink June 2021

Electric cars
Do electric vehicles
add up for ADIs?
Mike Yeomans
MSA GB North East
Like many of you I’m sure, the
current debate around electric cars
has piqued my interest. There is a
wide range of options available,
and EVs are clearly the way forward as
far as the government is concerned.
However, what few people have asked so
far is, how do they work for driving
instructors?
To try to gain some clarity on this vital
question I asked Hitachi Capital UK Plc,
Vehicle Solutions for their take on electric
vehicles (EVs) for ADIs. I also gained
some great insights from Rob Cooling.
He is an ADI (Apple School of Motoring)
who has been an enthusiastic advocate
for EVs for some time, and has written
several articles in Newslink explaining
why he feels they are great tuition
vehicles. He has also given many
enthusiastic talks via Zoom recently, and
is happy to share real-time costs and
experiences with ADIs. MSA GB North
East have had Rob give talks to our
members a couple of times and every
time I hear him, I learn that little bit more.
My principal concerns were around
purchase costs and how far we had gone
with reasonable cost leasing and finance.
The reply from Hitachi Capital is
interesting and is contained within the
information below.
So, let’s look at where we are at the
moment. The future of driving, so we are
told, is electric. So much so that the UK
government has picked 2035 as the date
when sales of pure petrol and diesel
vehicles will be banned, heralding a new
zero emissions age.
In fact, as part of a public consultation
process on changing building regulations
in England, it has been proposed that all
new homes with a dedicated parking
space should be legally required to
include an electric vehicle (EV) charging
point. There’s even pressure on the UK
government to bring the 2035 date
forward to 2030, a deadline the Irish
government is already considering
putting into legislation.
With this in mind, it would seem to
make sense if those responsible for
training the drivers of the future started
thinking about when, rather than if, they
“You will rack up
substantial savings
by not hav-
ing to pay the
Congestion
Charge or other
ULEZ fees...”
should make their own switch to EVs.
On the face of it there is both an
environmental and a financial case for
doing so. Tuition cars tend to spend large
portions of the day driving around
densely populated areas where emissions
are particularly problematic. With so
many cities planning to introduce Clean
Air Zones similar to London’s ULEZ,
continuing to use internal combustion
engine (ICE) vehicles, particularly diesel,
will mean ever-increasing financial
penalties and other restrictions.
Of course, many driving instructors will
rightly question whether it is practical to
make the switch now, or if such a
change would cause more problems than
it solves.
Why should I consider an EV?
To help you decide, according to
Hitachi Capital, we can explore the case
for EVs by looking at some of the unique
features which could impact the teaching
environment and business viability of
such a decision:
They’re quiet…
The absence of revving, humming and
clattering noises produced by combustion
may well have a calming effect on some
students, allowing them to focus on
developing their new driving skills. This
would also benefit instructors who spend
such a large part of their day in the
vehicle.
They only have one gear
and no clutch…
The extremely high torque produced by
electric motors means that EVs don’t
need gearboxes, clutches or automatic
transmissions. These are all parts that
tend to wear out when driven around for
long periods each day, especially when it
is somewhat hesitantly.
This is actually just one of the reasons
that EVs are generally more reliable and
need less maintenance than traditional
cars.
Of course, passing a test in an EV will
only give the student a licence to drive
an automatic vehicle. However, the
number of automatics on the road is
rapidly increasing, with 2017 seeing
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NEWSLINK n JUNE 2021