The new power generation: Learner drivers keen on EVs poll reveals
Published: 03 May, 2022
42% of learner drivers would favour an EV or hybrid as their first car, a new YouGov survey commissioned by The Motor Ombudsman has revealed.
26% of those questioned would go for a full EV, with 16% likely to opt for a part-electric or hybrid. Only 21% said they want a petrol car once they pass their test, with just 6% saying they would want a diesel. The final 30% were undecided.
The findings were published to commemorate the launch of The Motor Ombudsman’s Second Edition of its #JustPassed downloadable booklet, which covers key considerations for new drivers when looking to buy their first car, or when needing to get it serviced.
On servicing, 76% of said that they were familiar with these parts of routine vehicle maintenance. On the need to get an MOT once a vehicle reaches three years of age, 77% of participants said they were aware with this legal requirement.
Commenting on the results Chief Ombudsman and Managing Director of the Motor Ombudsman Bill Fennell said: “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.”
Bill added: “Since publishing our #JustPassed guide a few years ago, the automotive industry, technology, as well as the types of vehicles available to today’s buyers, have all evolved. We therefore wanted to bring the online booklet up to date to reflect the current landscape, and to provide a more comprehensive resource for individuals when looking to make a decision as to what first car to buy, and where to get it serviced.”
To view and download The Motor Ombudsman’s #JustPassed guide for new drivers, visit
www.TheMotorOmbudsman.org/consumers/new-driver-guide
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- Feeling the pressure
Issues with tyre pressure monitoring systems will become much more prominent and regular in the majority of workshops all over the UK. Since 2014, every car sold new in the European Union was required has to have a form of TPMS. There is no way of escaping it. As a technician you can try and hide from it if you like, but it will find you and it will make your brain engage when that little warning light ‘pings' on the dashboard.
The thing that a lot of techs don't know is that the first form of TPMS was first put into practice in the late 1980s, so it is not as if it’s a new idea. Back then, it was mainly for high-end luxury cars. Now a very high percentage of low-priced to mid-range priced vehicles are fitted with a TPMS system. You can even buy a retro-fit system and put it onto your motorcycle if you wanted to!
Types
There are two different types of monitoring systems. The first is a direct system in which the sensors are held within the wheels. These send a radio signal to the car and this is converted into a real-time display on the dashboard for the driver to keep a close eye on all of the pressures individually. The second is the indirect system. This one cannot show you a real-time value as there aren’t any TPMS sensors to send a radio signal back to the car. Instead this works via the cars wheel speed sensors/ABS sensors, to put it simply- it counts the rotations of each wheel and recognizes a fault if one wheel turns quicker than the other three. Clever or what? Well, not really, if all four tyres lose pressure.
Prod and cons
When it comes to TPMS pros and cons, my personal thoughts are that these systems, particularly the direct system will make for safer roads and therefore save lives. Not only that, the fact is that it is going to save your tyres, and by keeping the optimum pressure in them, saving your tyres will save you money, and if you save your money you will then be able to afford to buy new sensors if (when) they break... and they do break, whether it’s the core (due to bad practice when fitting tyres and not replacing something as simple as the core and the valve cap) ,a leak from the base of the stem or simply the battery going flat inside a sensor... (majority not interchangeable).
The simple fact is they do go wrong sometimes. Besides the main disadvantage of the indirect system that I mentioned earlier, if they do go wrong and it is obvious that the TPMS system isn’t working correctly, come MOT time the car will get a major fail. However, if the car is registered before January 2012, this doesn’t matter, which probably wasn’t the best decision ever made. I think any car equipped with a TPMS system from the factory should have it working. Simple as that, but that’s just my opinion.
Optimum
If one or more pressures are low and the tyres look ‘obviously Under Inflated’ then that induces a pass with a minor defect. The facts is that thousands of accidents and hundreds of deaths occur every year due to under inflated tyres resulting in tread separation and ultimately failure of the tyre.
In short, tell your customers if they want better fuel efficiency, better handling and optimum braking, they might want to check their pressures, even when the MOT is not looming.
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