aDriving School predicts around 25% of car driving test passes could be in automatic cars by 2025 as people are switching to electric vehicles. According to recent data released by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, around 17% of learners passed their driving test on an automatic car. Which is about 3.6% higher compared to the last year. This percentage was only 5% a decade earlier. The percentage of candidates going for the test in an automatic increases by around 3% every year.
Automatic Driving Tests in Year 2022 and 2023
In the years 2022 and 2023, 324,064 out of 1,688,955 tests were conducted in automatic cars with around 138,354 passes. aDriving school predicts around 23% of passes can be in automatic cars in 2025 based on a 3% increase per year. This can be even more with the ban on the sale of diesel cars in the next few years.
The increase in demand for automatic vehicles reflects that more DVSA approved driving instructors will be teaching automatic cars in the coming years.
Demand for learning to drive a manual car is decreasing as thousands of people are aware that the future of driving is being electric.
More Female than Male Learners
According to our driving instructors in Wellingborough, more female candidates are taking automatic car tests than male learners. Before 2019, around 1 in 4 candidates for automatic driving tests were females, and around 60% in 2024.
aDriving school data also reflects that usually, older people have more automatic driving lessons than young pupils.
There are several reasons learners go for automatic driving. The main reason is learning to drive in an automatic is that it’s simpler. Learners don’t have to worry about the clutch or gear change. Strangely, the automatic pass rate is around 6% lower than manual tests. It could be because learners learning in automatic cars go for the test when they are not up to the test standard.
aDriving school predicts a rapid increase in automatic driving tests after 2030 because of the ban on new diesel vehicles. Electric vehicles are automatic which will eventually decrease the demand for manual vehicles in coming years.
Demand for electric vehicles is increasing because of the lower running cost and zero road tax. Though buyers do need to look at the electric vehicles charging options to save the electricity cost. The bad news for electric vehicle owners is that the government has introduced a road tax on electric vehicles that will be applicable from April 2025.
Driving Instructors for Automatic Driving Lessons
There is an increase in ADI’s who are teaching in automatic cars in 2024 which seems to rise in 2025. aDriving has also started to teach automatic driving lessons in Wellingborough in 2024.
Because the future is electric and automatic, more learners are deciding to learn to drive an automatic car. aDriving predicts a clear decline in manual driving lessons by 2025 and the coming years.
