The thrill of getting behind the wheel and revving the engine once you’ve passed your driving test might just be a thing of the past as new research shows that most new drivers would prefer their first car to be an electric or hybrid.

The survey, which has been published by the Motor Ombudsman using data collected by YouGov, is a further insight into the changing buying and driving habits of the future generation of motorists.

Polling some 500 existing and prospective learner drivers, 42 per cent of those who responded said they would prefer their first car to either fully electric or in part electric, such as a PHEV. Only 21 per cent said that they would like to jump into a petrol car once they had ripped up their L-plates, and a miserely 6 per cent considered a diesel engine.

The analysis did show some uncertainty in the market though as there were 30 per cent of those who had no idea what car they wanted when they passed their test.

The Motor Ombudsman research also asked learner drivers if they knew that a car should be serviced once a year, and it was heartening to find that three our of four potential new car drivers knew this to be fact. A similar number of respondents said they knew that a new car needed an MOT after three years had passed.
“With the nation’s appetite for zero emission motoring growing, and the green agenda becoming ever more prominent in the buying habits of consumers, it is interesting to see that a large proportion of existing and prospective learner drivers are set to follow suit when they get the keys to their own car,” said Bill Fennell, Chief Ombudsman and Managing Director of the Motor Ombudsman.

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