It's Official, Drivers Education is now Offered with a Mach-E !!

[DennisD]

As some of you are already aware, I own and operate a Driver Education Business here in Omaha Nebraska. I have instructed Drivers Ed. since 1986 and I went on my own back in 1998. I have had many cars throughout the years but this is the first EV that I have had. I ordered my MME Premium AWD ER Grabber Blue back in November of 21. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to use if for my School or not. I have decided to pull the trigger and I am going to use it next Summer for my program. I have 6 drivers (me included as one of them) and I need an "extra" car for the Summer because of the larger number of students taking said course. (my wife is going to drive it during the non-summer months) I usually instruct around a 1000 + students a year. I most likely will "test it out" with a student or two before that time. I just installed the brake and the decals on the car. I do all of the setting up of the cars myself. The decals on this one was challenging to say the least along with the installation of the brake.

I would guess that I won't be able to use 1 pedal drive when the students are driving but I am sure there will be some that have driven Tesla's and other EV's that we may use the 1 pedal option. I am excited and I will fill you in as time goes on if this was a smart idea or not?

Just a side note, I also installed Solar Panels to my roof of the house. It is awesome in knowing that the Sun is "driving my business".

https://delongsdriving.com/

 

[MachEMaster]

I expect a car like this will be awesome for your business! Do you have any vehicles with a manual transmission still? I'm worried this will be a lost art, with the younger generation.

 

[DennisD]

I expect a car like this will be awesome for your business! Do you have any vehicles with a manual transmission still? I'm worried this will be a lost art, with the younger generation.

In all of my years of instructing Driver's Education, we have never used a manual transmission vehicle (my company or the ones I worked for). I agree that this is important to know but I usually phrase it this way. Imagine teaching your toddler to run before they start walking.

I personally think that once you know the basics, then and only then should you attempt to drive a manual.

I only instruct the teenagers that are just starting to learn.

There is another School here in Omaha that exclusively instructs with a manual for adults. I have entertained that but I can't imagine how many clutches I would go through.

In any event, hopefully you are correct and this will "drive" my business. Pun intended!!

 

[Ghost Ryder]

I'm teaching my son in the GT right now. Other car is a MYP, so same performance. It's a little scary, because if he mash the go pedal by mistake, there is no delay in shooting the MME forward unlike a low power gas car. Very little room for error.

 

[andyrross]

This is great. I would think you'll have a list of kids wanting to be taught in a Mustang. I wish that was an option when I was at that age.

 

[Blue highway]

Nice livery on the car!

 

[kennethjk]

I'm teaching my son in the GT right now. Other car is a MYP, so same performance. It's a little scary, because if he mash the go pedal by mistake, there is no delay in shooting the MME forward unlike a low power gas car. Very little room for error.

Also if he mashes the pedal he might burn out your HVBJB, be careful

 

[DennisD]

Also if he mashes the pedal he might burn out your HVBJB, be careful

Number 1- If he mashes the pedal, I will then mash his head. JK
Number 2- This car was manufactured in August of this year, hopefully the HVBJB will not fail.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

Number 1- If he mashes the pedal, I will then mash his head. JK
Number 2- This car was manufactured in August of this year, hopefully the HVBJB will not fail.

can the brakes overcome the massive instant torque of the Mach E?

 

[DennisD]

can the brakes overcome the massive instant torque of the Mach E?

If not, I will just place a louder horn on the car.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Manual trannies are the basics. That’s what I learned to drive on.

One of your pix doesn’t have your license plate blacked out. I don’t black mine put since it’s already black.

All joking aside, this is a very cool thing. Glad you’re pioneering this foryour students!

 

[DennisD]

Manual trannies are the basics. That’s what I learned to drive on.

One of your pix doesn’t have your license plate blacked out. I don’t black mine put since it’s already black.

All joking aside, this is a very cool thing. Glad you’re pioneering this foryour students!

I noticed that shortly after posting it that I didn't black out one of the pics. Oh well.........

I also noticed that one of the stripes "lifted" on the front slightly after I took the pics and got back home. I simply stuck it back and heated it with a blow dryer. That seems to fix most decals lifting. It was annoying not noticing it until I was home looking at the pics. I just put them on last night and that happens some times.

For those that are curious, the decals cost a grand total of $150 for the side decals and $75 for the stripes on the hood and backside. It took around 5 hours to do the whole car. I used some "high end" decals (I know the owner of the Sign Shop fairly well) and he gave me a real good deal.

I have placed all the decals on all of my cars but this was by far the most challenging. It is not fun at the time of doing it but it sure is gratifying once it is done.

I also had a local fellow that is putting out a Mustang book this Spring and this car will be in that book as well. I just stumbled upon him and he asked if he could take pics of the car (before the decals were on). I will post that as soon as the book is published this Spring.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Are you going to let them use Active Park assist to do parallel parking?

I could see driving the Mach-E could be pretty overwhelming for new drivers with all the tech, especially if they come from families with older vehicles with manual controls and a turn key.

You could show them BlueCruise, they’ll probably be amazed. Do you have a chapter in your curriculum about managing ADAS? That’s going to be an increasing part of driving so I think you should talk about the limitations and what they systems can and can’t do. A lot of the young people think they can rely on technology to solve all their problems so they don’t have to learn or work as hard.

 

[tmrqs]

Imagine teaching your toddler to run before they start walking.

I personally think that once you know the basics, then and only then should you attempt to drive a manual.

I find this comment fascinating. European guy here in my early 40s, where I come from automatic cars were the exception and manual shifting the rule… and even today, a large portion of cars remain manual.

Everyone I know back home learnt to drive with manual shifting, that was/is the norm. There is very little science in learning how to shift gears and a habit one learns within a couple lessons.

The differences in perception (culture?) are very interesting to me.

 

[MachEMaster]

I find this comment fascinating. European guy here in my early 40s, where I come from automatic cars were the exception and manual shifting the rule… and even today, a large portion of cars remain manual.

Everyone I know back home learnt to drive with manual shifting, that was/is the norm. There is very little science in learning how to shift gears and a habit one learns within a couple lessons.

The differences in perception (culture?) are very interesting to me.

When I took my Young Drivers of Canada course, manual transmission vehicles were all that they offered. I am glad I learned that life skill early on. I especially enjoyed my manual xmsn on my 1990 5.0 LX!!! Sometimes a little too much.

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