Driving school predicts 1 in 4 driving test passes will be in automatic cars by 2026
21% of AA Driving School franchises now teach in automatics.
AA Driving School predicts more than 25% of practical driving test passes will be in automatic vehicles by 2026, fuelled by the switch to electric vehicles.
In the latest data released by DVSA, 17% of all passes are in an automatic compared with 13.4% the previous year, and just five percent a decade earlier.
AA Driving School predicts that in 2023/24 20% of all passes will be in an automatic, 2024/25 23%, and 2025/26 it will be 26%. This is set to rise even further with the ban of sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles on the horizon.
The rise year-on-year reflects the numbers of instructors teaching in automatic vehicles. In January this year, 21% of AA Driving School franchisees were teaching in an automatic compared with 79% in manual.
AA driving school managing director, Camilla Benitz says "As more people become confident with the idea of their driving future being electric, the idea of needing to drive a manual vehicle will feel irrelevant to many."
Gareth Jones who works for the AA in the West Midlands told us, the majority of electric cars are automatic but manual tests won't be scrapped because of heritage cars.
"Due to the transition of people going over to EV and Hybrid where those cars tend to be more automatic driven, there are some manual hybrids on the market but most cars tend to be automatic which is why we're seeing that trend go towards it.
"In 2035 there's a ban on new sales of petrol and diesel cars coming in. People are probably trying to make that transition a lot sooner than being forced to do it in the very short space of time."
The data also shows more females than males are taking automatic tests, though the gap has lessened since the pandemic. Prior to 2019/20, typically around three-quarters of automatic tests were taken by female pupils. This has reduced every year since, but currently stands at more than 60%.
AA Driving School data also shows older learners are more likely to have lessons in an automatic than younger learners. Of the school’s current automatic pupils, 43% are over 30 (10% of overall pupils) compared to just 17% who are 17-20 years old (4 percent of overall pupils).
It’s likely the automatic numbers will increase further and faster after the 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel sales. As EVs are automatic the need to learn in a manual vehicle will decrease and we should see automatic rates comfortably overtake manual.
The number of people training to be an instructor in an automatic has also risen. In 2023, 37% of those learning to be a driving instructor with the AA chose an automatic vehicle.