EV sales are booming right now. Buoyed by high fuel prices for petrol and diesel cars, plus government incentives, the latest stats show an increase of over 24 per cent in electric car sales, with March being the biggest month ever for EV registrations.
That’s the now – but the future will be even more electrified, with the government still targeting a 2035 switch for all new cars to be electric . There’s plenty of work that has to be done to persuade today’s car buyers to go electric, but what does the next generation of drivers think about the switch to electric cars?
I decided to find out, by taking a couple of teenagers for their first drives in an electric car; two teenagers who haven’t even driven on the roads yet.
The venue for our electric test drive was Mercedes-Benz World, based at the old Brooklands racing circuit near Weybridge in Surrey. We’ll get to the driving in a minute, but if you haven’t been to Mercedes-Benz World you should stick it on your bucket list. It’s part theme park, part car showroom and a great day out for all the family. It’s also free to get in, unless you take part in the driving activities, enjoy the tempting (and tasty) restaurants, play on some of the car-related games (yes, I won on the slot cars) or buy a car!
At 17, Suki Basford has been to Mercedes-Benz World before to get in early with some driving experience before she heads out onto the roads. In fact, she’d earned enough points from previous visits to get her a fast on-track experience with one of M-B World’s driving experts.
Suki’s brother Leo, 13, had never driven before, so this was his first time behind the wheel of any car, let alone an EV.
Before we headed out, I wanted to find out what Suki and Leo thought about EVs.
“They’re good for the planet and it would be a lot better if everyone started to drive them,” said Leo.
Suki was slightly more reserved. “Because you’ve got to factor in charging, if the charger breaks, that’s a bit of a problem. But also, while they’re technically eco-friendly when they’re running, the process of building them is still bad for the planet. So, either way, if you’re going to get a car, it still does something bad for the planet.”
They agreed on two things, though. They both wanted cars of their own and were excited by the thought of driving. “Cars are useful and make it really easy to get to places,” said Leo.
“I think it’s a bit of a coming-of-age thing,” said Suki. “Lots of kids look up to when they can drive. So, when you get that freedom, it’s like every kid wants to do it and they get that sort of excitement. It’s like, okay, now I’m an adult, I can go wherever I want; I can take whoever I want anywhere.”
However, they both thought that cars would “most likely” be all-electric in the future. “I think the government is also trying to head towards the net zero plan of not having petrol cars made in the future,” said Suki.
Suki and Leo may well be part of a generation who never gets to experience petrol or diesel cars, but did that bother them? “No,” said Suki. “I don’t think there’s much difference between electric and an automatic petrol. I think if you wanted to drive a manual, then obviously that’s a bit of an issue, but my plan is to learn in an automatic anyway and aways stay with an automatic.”
For their drive, Suki and Leo had the opportunity to get behind the wheel of one of the latest – and best – new EVs, the Mercedes-Benz CLA. I drove this new saloon a while back and described it as the best Mercedes for a generation, with the very latest tech and 484 miles of range.
First up was Leo, sitting alongside long-time Mercedes-Benz World instructor and former racing driver Ed Redfern. Ed and I have history: alongside his racing career, he worked for me when I was editor of What Car? Then in 2010, Ed sat alongside my 96-year-old grandmother when she had her first ever driving lesson, with the two of them featuring on breakfast TV the next morning.
Leo couldn’t have been in better hands, with Ed explaining everything about the car, the track and the experience ahead before Leo gingerly set off on the Mercedes-Benz World test track. Although every car available for young drivers at MB World has a brake for the instructor, Ed didn’t need it as Leo quickly got up to speed with driving and made his way along the straight, through the corners and back around to the start.
From the outside, it could’ve been a more experienced driver behind the wheel of the CLA, rather than a 13-year-old getting his first taste behind the wheel, but the track makes for super-safe driving and Ed gave Leo as much time as he needed to get used to driving.
Next, Suki jumped in and immediately started to get herself comfy behind the wheel – she was clearly somebody with some driving experience behind her, and Ed adjusted his instruction accordingly. Again, Ed reported that Suki had a natural talent for driving and she took to the course with aplomb, adapting easily to this different car and very different form of power.
So, what were the verdicts after the drive?
“It was really good,” said Leo. “It’s electric so it felt fast, but it was good for learning. I think the car was great at helping you and telling you what to do – it had good safety stuff that makes driving a lot easier. It can assist you in situations if it’s quite difficult.”
With more experience of driving, Suki immediately got into comparison mode with the other cars she’d experienced at Mercedes-Benz World. “It feels quite sensitive,” she said. “You just put a fine amount of pressure on, and it’ll do what you want. I think you’ve got to be aware of that, but once you sort of adjust to that, it’s fine.
“I quite liked the feature where the car uses AI to show you what’s going on around it. So, it’ll show you on the screen where the other cars are and where people are – I quite liked having that because it might pick up on something. And I thought the camera was also really good for reversing because obviously we did some reversing – the camera was really helpful.”
So, it was a thumbs up for electric cars, for the CLA and its technology, and also a big thumbs up for Mercedes-Benz World. “It was good to have an instructor – he was very calm and was really good at telling you what to do and how to do it,” said Leo. “And he always tried to remind you if you made a mistake, but he would do it in the best way possible. I think it’s nice for young people to get used to the idea of driving.”
Suki agreed. “It’s better to make the mistakes here than to make them on the real road,” she said. “And I did an exercise here where they had me read something while I was trying to drive to show how dangerous being distracted from driving is. I was veering off the road, but obviously I can do that here because it’s a safe environment, it’s not on the actual road and you can go as slow or as fast as you want. You’ve not got other angry drivers trying to encourage you to speed up, too.”
That was Suki and Leo’s view, but how did their instructor Ed say they got on?
“They did really, really well,” he said. “For Leo’s first time I was seriously impressed with his application and attitude. And Suki’s going to be a great driver.”
More and more young people are choosing to drive electric cars at Mercedes-Benz World, too, and they’re adapting well to the new technologies that EVs bring.
“I think they’re more accepting than maybe I am,” said Ed. “We come from a slightly different generation. How young people adapt to that technology is incredible. We’re in a modern era where they’re used to that sort of technology with the screens and things like that, and how to have that intelligent interface.
“What’s good to see is that they’re incorporating not just the aspects of the technology, but the fundamentals of driving; how all these systems are there to assist the driver, not to replace us as drivers.
“When I was out with Suki earlier, we were looking through her driver’s logbook and it was really interesting that she’d done about six or seven hours here with us and she’s developing parking skills. The CLA is fabulous for that – literally you could press a button and do it. It’s brilliant. Not all cars are going to have that technology, understandably, so it’s good to appreciate and use that to compliment your own skills.”
With the driving and our EV experiment done, Suki (and Leo) got their hot laps with Ed at the wheel, while their mum, Lisa, also got a surprise, high-speed (and mostly sideways), shotgun ride with the Silver Arrows display team – described by Ed as the Red Arrows on wheels. Like so many things at Mercedes-Benz World, it’s free to watch for visitors.
What was clear from Suki and Leo’s comments was that EVs, and especially the technology that comes with them, will just be what cars are in future. And as far as they’re concerned, that suits them fine.
