It's a slight twist to the original thread, but an interesting one.
Here in the UK (as with the rest of Europe) learning to drive is pretty intensive compared to the U.S. My wife had been driving in the US since 1987 but found she had to take the test twice here to pass when she moved here in 2004!
In the UK, you have to take your driving test in multiple parts.
1) a theoretical test testing your knowledge of the road rules, signs etc.
2) a hazard perception test, in which you are played video from an in-car camera and asked to spot the hazards.
3) a practical test with an examiner.
In addition in the UK, you can't drive before the age of 17 in a car. You can drive a quadricycle (small, underpowered four-wheeler) at the age of 16 with basic training, but it has to have a maximum speed equal to that of most modern NEVs. Since that rule comes into effect on January 19, no-one is using it yet.
As already mentioned, if you pass your test in a stick shift, you can drive both types of car. If you pass in an automatic, your license is stamped with auto only. This makes it particularly difficult if you're hiring a car or truck, as most hire vehicles in Europe are stick shift.
For motorcycles, it's even tougher.
As of January 19 this year, the
old test system will be replaced with something even more stringent.
Basically, for motorcycles, if you start riding a moped aged 16, and find yourself progressing through various motorcycle sizes and classes,
you'll have taken four practical tests (each has two parts), plus compulsory basic training, as well as hazard perception and theory tests.
The idea is to try and minimize the number of bikers on the road who are underprepared for bigger bikes. If you start learning and are over 24 when you start (I was 31 when I got my motorcycle licence) you can take tuition and go to the top of the class with a single test, provided the motorcycle you take has more than a 15kW power output.
Back to driving tests in Leafs
There's
now a driving school in the UK which teaches driving in a Leaf. -- the guy said it took a while to get the car modified to have dual control pedals (a requirement I believe for official driving instruction cars here) but it's now all set up and does a lovely job!
Like some of you, my kids are waaaay too young to start driving yet. We've got two EVs and a Prius, and my kids have never know life without an EV since we adopted them three years ago.
My eldest regularly moans about taking the "Gas-guzzling, dinosaur-killing" Prius on trips, and keeps asking me when we're going to convert it to a Plug-In. They also moan when going in someone else's non EV, which is a tad embarrassing. (Still, they helped the grandparents in VA buy a Volt so all is good!)
When my eldest turns 16, I'm seriously considering getting a restricted Twizy for them instead of a moped. As that's five years away, I've got some time to save up.
There's a local off-road driving school which teaches 11-16 year olds how to drive in full-size gas cars. My eldest wanted to go until he found out that it was gas cars only. We turned up in my Twizy, and he said. "But we could give them our Leaf or Twizy for the day!?!"
Ah... if only it were that easy
