‘My electric car costs have surged now my son is learning to drive'

Telegraph

4 hours ago

I've been through a lot with my electric and hybrid cars. Making the switch to an electric vehicle (EV) and installing a charge point at home for my second-hand electric Renault Zoe took months, and I've recently battled to find any insurer to cover my battered hybrid Toyota Auris.
We opted for these cars because we were keen to reduce our environmental impact, while reducing our fuel costs at the same time.
What I hadn't considered was what would happen when my children wanted to learn to drive – something that, it turns out, could cost us thousands because of the pricier driving lessons and expensive insurance required to get them behind the wheel of these vehicles.
We live in Hadleigh, Suffolk – my husband, Josh, a charity fundraiser, and I, a personal finance journalist, along with 17-year-old Finn, and 15-year-old George. Public transport is limited, so we're keen for them to pass their driving tests – but I had no idea how much more expensive we'd made it by opting for two automatic, environmentally friendly cars.
Pricier driving lessons
Manual cars are rapidly disappearing from our roads. In 2024, only 22pc of new car registrations were manual, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, and more young people are taking their practical driving test in an automatic as a result.
Already, almost 21pc of all passes in 2023-24 were in automatic vehicles, according to data from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), compared with 17pc the previous year and just 5pc a decade earlier.
Much of this is being fuelled by the switch to EVs, according to the AA Driving School, which predicts that one in four driving test passes will be in automatic cars by 2026.
Seb Goldin, of Red Driver Training, said there had been a 16pc increase in automatic driving lesson hours at his firm between 2023 and 2024. 'This is likely accelerated by the accessibility when it comes to learning and the advent of electric cars,' he said. This trend is set to pick up pace over the next few years, due to the planned 2030 ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars – but, as we've discovered, it's adding extra costs for learner drivers.
More expensive driving lessons are the first thing you'll notice. While specific prices vary depending on the area and the individual instructor, the AA Driving School quoted typical prices per hour for driving lessons as £40 for a manual car and £42 for an automatic in London, with respective prices at £38 and £40 in Edinburgh, and £35 and £36.50 in Cardiff.
Just a couple of pounds difference may not sound like much, but given it takes an average of 45 hours of driving lessons (if you can access an additional 22 hours of private practice) to pass your test, learning in an automatic could add around £100 before you can even ditch the L-plates.
Higher insurance costs
Once you're on the road as a new driver, the real costs kick in – particularly if you're driving an EV. The average annual premium for 17 to 24-year-olds driving manual vehicles was £1,260 in April 2025, according to data from comparison website Compare the Market, but it was £1,642 for electric vehicles – a chunky 30pc more.
Insurance premiums take into account the risk based on both the driver and the car they are driving, so younger drivers of EVs get clobbered both ways.
Julie Daniels, motor insurance expert at Compare the Market, said: 'Younger drivers face higher premiums because they are statistically more likely to be involved in a claim – and the expense of repairing EVs can amplify that risk'.
One in five new drivers crash within the first 12 months after passing their test, according to research by Ocean Finance, while around 37pc of 18 to 24-year-olds had at least one near miss in 2024.
Automatic and electric cars also tend to cost more to purchase and repair, which again increases insurance costs. EVs are generally newer cars, with fewer second-hand models on the market compared to internal combustion engine cars. Newer cars of whatever engine type tend to have more technical functionality than older vehicles, which affects their value and repair costs.
The type of driving licence you have can also push up insurance premiums. Craig Codell, electric vehicle product manager at Admiral, one of the UK's largest motor insurers, said this is because drivers with an automatic licence are more likely to make a claim than a driver with a manual one.
Given the continued shift towards EVs, I worry that younger people are being priced out of learning to drive, particularly if they only have access to an EV, and their parents can't spare the extra cash. Finn has been looking for a summer job to help fund his driving, but if we weren't willing to cover the insurance and lessons he couldn't just magic up hundreds of pounds out of nowhere.
'Our car insurance leapt from £406 to £2,019'
Back at home, it appears I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Either way, it seems we'll have to fork out more. We face higher costs of car insurance, and for each driving lesson if Finn goes for an automatic-only driving licence. Or, we'll potentially need to stump up for extra driving lessons if Finn learns in a manual car, but doesn't have access to a manual for practice.
It's frustrating that opting for more environmentally friendly vehicles should also land us with higher costs.
Plus, with our car insurance up for renewal, it became apparent that our current insurers were not exactly keen to add a 17-year-old with a provisional licence to our policies.
The renewal quote for our electric car with LV car insurance leapt from £392 a year to £1,134.
Meanwhile, Churchill, the insurer for our hybrid car, pushed the annual premium up from £406 to £2,019. If we'd stuck with a manual Volkswagen Polo, of the same age and mileage as our electric car, the quotes after adding Finn started from £587 for a standard policy.
The price rises seemed huge and made me think twice about whether we could afford to add Finn to our insurance. There's certainly no question of being able to cover him on both cars.
Both companies suggested using their temporary insurance policies to cut costs – where, for example, you can insure an additional driver for up to 90 days in the policy year, split across up to five separate occasions. But this didn't sound ideal for weekend driving practice.
Tech to bring prices down
Thankfully, plugging our details into comparison websites revealed some less eye-watering prices.
The cheapest option for both cars were telematics policies with Hastings Direct, often know as 'black box' insurance. Hastings Direct YouDrive came in at £569 for the electric car, and £490 for the hybrid.
With a telematics policy, the insurer monitors your driving, either by fitting an electronic monitoring device, providing a monitoring device to plug in yourself or using an app on your smartphone. The device or app then tracks aspects of your driving, such as when, where, how far and how fast you drive, and how aggressively you brake, corner and accelerate. Drive safely, and your insurer could potentially cut your premiums.
For the pleasure of driving without an insurer looking over our shoulders, I was quoted £610 for a stripped-down essentials policy for the hybrid, or £626 for a higher-rated policy with a lower excess. Premiums for the electric car rose to £749 and £802 for the same policies, but there were cheaper options elsewhere from around £650.
Based on the insurance costs, I've added Finn to the hybrid policy rather than the electric. It's a shame, because the electric car is smaller, and therefore easier for a learner to park – and it has lower running costs.