Driving test in an electric car

That sounds like a regular ('self charging') hybrid, not a PHEV (plugin hybrid EV). A PHEV would give you 15+ miles of electric-only range, which wouldn't have the engine kicking in until the battery was low.

If it's the Yaris Hybrid you mentioned upthread, on the Toyota regular hybrids the engine usually kicks in a few seconds after startup to warm up the cat for emissions purposes, but once warm it'll happily run on electric-only (there's an EV button, and an EV light to indicate when it's not running the engine). You get maybe a mile of all-electric range so it's not really worth pressing the button unless you're only going a short distance (or don't want the noise, eg don't want to wake people).

Cars with only electric transmission are 'series hybrids' and they exist - either with a big battery which are basically an EV with a petrol backup (eg the BMW i3 with REX range extender) or with a smaller battery (eg Vauxhall Ampera / Chevy Volt).

Theo

You can nudge mine into a lower gear than it would choose (but never a higher one than it thinks is sensible) but it won't stay in the lower gear for ever, or if the revs get too high, it will "save itself" ...

I doubt you've driven a decent modern auto, then.

I drive a Kuga PHEV, the current one being the second. I had to drive a manual during a recall and it was not a happy experience even after years of driving manuals it is surprising how soon you get out of the habit.

The two Kuga PHEVs have a CVT gearbox and the drive is absolutely smooth, my only previous experience of automatics was in the USA and I found their gearboxes most disconcerting. On my car there is only P R N D and a small button on the gear selector to select a low gear. All other gearing is electronically selected eg. Driving in snow, soft sand etc.

I have given up trying to look over my shoulder when reversing owing to head restraints and a high rear window resulting in poor vision of what is behind and have tended only to use the mirrors. With this car I have a reversing camera and as a result have excellent vision of what is behind. The camera also has a wide angle lens which almost gives you a round the corner vision when reversing out between parked cars.

I too could not go back to driving manuals except out of sheer necessity.

Richard

I used to look over my shoulder, then I learned that using the mirrors makes it easier to check the distance between the car and gateposts, walls or hedges. It would be nice if some clever sod had invented a mirror for the passenger side which was replicated above the driver's side mirror so you could monitor both side without having to move your head and adjust to the new view.

My wife's car has a reversing camera. I find it most useful for gauging distance directly behind (eg to the car behind when parallel parking). I haven't yet learned to trust it for gauging lateral distance from white lines between one parking space and the next in a car park. And I definitely feel a lot more comfortable using the passenger mirror (angled downwards) for judging exactly where my rear wheel is in relation to the kerb to determine when to start turning left during parallel parking: I need something that shows both items (wheel and kerb) so I can monitor separation, and a reversing camera doesn't give you that.

The scariest thing I've ever done was hiring a Luton van to move some furniture. It had excellent door mirrors but was too old to have a reversing camera. I found it fine for general driving from the hire place to our house. Then I had to reverse onto the drive - which had hedges on both sides and a gap that was comfortably wide for a car and so would be a bit more critical for a wider van. So I drive onto the wrong side of the road and steered hard left, in preparation for reversing. Help! Neither of my mirrors show me the gap: my back end isn't correctly lined up - but *which way do I need to steer to find the gap*? Once I could see the right-hand hedge in my mirror it was easy to adjust the position of the back end in relation to it, and hope that when I was lined up parallel with the drive (ie at right angles to the road) my left mirror would then be lined up to show the opposite hedge... with enough gap. I think I got it right on the second attempt.

At least you have a licence to drive a manual car and have driven one enough for the technique to come back to you, even if it's not the preferred option. I worry for people who take tests on automatics or electrics and are then confined to *only* driving those, and can/must not drive a manual (unless they have lessons and take a new test).

Funny story: the father of a work colleague worked for a car-rental company at an airport. One day a brash, over-confident American came to hire a car, having just arrived from USA. He was offered an automatic but said "I'm sure I can manage stick-shift" (*). Famous last words... The manual car that he was offered was parallel parked between several others alongside a road. The American got in the car, revved the engine (because he'd been told that stick-shifts are easy to stall), let in the clutch smartly and shot forward into the car in front which was catapulted into the car ahead of it. Before the car-hire could intervene, the American had gone into reverse to extricate himself from the mess and had done the same to the two cars behind him. In about 10 seconds he had just written off 5 cars. He forfeited his collision waver... and decided that perhaps he *would* opt for an automatic, after all. One hell of an insurance claim.

(*) If it had been me, I'd have been cautious - perhaps over-cautious. But not over-confident like Hank the Yank.

That sounds like a car that has gone into in get you home mode.

Yes - otherwise known as utterly-f*cked mode ;-) "Get you home" mode is a

That journey was quite an ordeal :-( I did contemplate abandoning the journey and turning round. But I had a job to do, so I struggled on, being confident that the hire company would sort it out once I arrived.

No. auto Ford Fucklesses come like that. :-)

At least my XF will 'limp home' at around 90mph if asked.

The 1100 did this much more obviously though, because the rear also settled down noticibly at the same time that the nose went up, was of benefit to those people who struggled with hill starts without rolling backwards.

Indeed. Definitely the type of auto box where you need to use left foot braking when getting into and out of tight place just for safety.

It was pretty much the same in the Mini I learned on (1968 model). It also had hydrolastic.

When I was a student, one of my lecturers told us that a few years earlier, the mechanical engineering department had been experimenting with a Triumph Herald that they'd fitted hydraulic transmission to. The gearing was infinitely variable between highest forward and highest reverse. They experimented with various fixed engine speeds and varying ratios; fixed ratios and varying engine speeds and varying both.

It was apparently very good for wheel-spinning.

I NEVER two foot but then I drive an eCVT (Yaris hybrid) and it seems to behave itself when a wee nudge is all that is needed.

I was taught never to use my left foot driving an auto, always move only the right foot between the two pedals. I have seen others using both feet, I'm told the police are trained to do so ?

Yes, my driving instructor (in 1981) had been a police Class 1 driver and later instructor. He told me that he gave a severe bollocking to any officer who left-foot braked in an auto, apart from at very slow speeds when manoeuvring, if the engagement of the transmission was a bit fierce. This is because it is dangerous if a driver has been used to driving manuals, and hence has built up the muscle memory for pressing the clutch firmly and through a large distance, and then forgets when driving an automatic and slams on the footbrake. It also encourages overlapping of accelerator and brake, whereas it should be either/or - in fact *three* states: on accelerator, off accelerator letting the car roll in gear, on brake (I've been a passenger in autos where the driver has been two-state - full on power or else full on brake, no intermediate). Better to use the right foot for both accelerator and brake (as in a manual), since both require the same more delicate level of control.

He was a man of many principles and rituals, most of which I agree with and still follow to this day.

"Footbrake is for stopping. Handbrake is for *staying* stopped" (in other words, don't sit in a queue of traffic dazzling the car behind with your brake lights).

"Always waggle your gear lever side-to-side before starting/stopping the engine" (to prove that the gear lever is in neutral so the car won't lurch forward when you start the engine, or when you let the clutch up after coming to a halt - not needed so much nowadays in the first case because many modern cars won't even run the starter motor unless the clutch is pressed)

"Always do your cockpit drill" (check the fuel level, and that ignition and oil lights come on when you turn the ignition on but go out once the engine is running - and a few other things: probably including the gear-lever waggle)

In the early 80s, the normal driving test still required candidates to change down through the gears when approaching a junction etc. So that is what he taught. When I passed my test, he said "Right, forget all that crap about changing down through your gears. Get used to braking in the gear that you were in (maybe top gear) and then changing directly into the gear that you need to accelerate out of the hazard, once you've determined what the correct gear is." Sequential changing down wastes a lot of time and driver's attention, and imposes extra strain on the clutch if you don't manage to rev-match perfectly. The IAM advanced test and the police manual "Roadcraft" say don't do it, and even the normal test doesn't require it now. There are exceptions: the most obvious is changing down a gear or so for extra engine braking when going down a long steep hill.

Many cars now have a finger operated electric parking brake, and a "look mum, no hands or feet" brake that applies automatically when stationary, where the driver can't help the brake lights being on ...

Rules are for the guidance of wise men. I always use left foot braking but the f****ng car will if I use it too much throw up a series of warnings. The typical scenario is I have used the left foot to hold the car stationary, applied some throttle to get the torque convertor warmed up,. let the brake off to do a rapid start and then someone comes round the corner on my side of te road and I mash the brake while still on the throttle.

The police were taught left foot braking back in the days of 'not so smart' autos.

Essentially in a high speed chase when slowing for a corner you want to force the car to kick down, and you do that by braking AND accelerating.

It is almost impossible to park an auto accurately without left foot braking. You use the brake just like a clutch to inch forward (or back). It is the only pedal that still has a direct-ish connection with the wheels

I've yet to drive an automatic where slow movement actually required any throttle.

Then you switch from your manual car to your wife's automatic, and after the first braking experience, you realise why left-foot braking is not advised.

That depends on the slope you are on.

Then you learn how to do it, like you learn how to drive on the right in France and Germany and Belgium and Mexico etc etc What kind of a wimp are you?