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

[mdolan92869]

If everyone learns on an automatic going forward (and a bit back into the past), then owning a manual will make it almost theft proof. Leave the keys in it, they can't drive it away!

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[MellowJohnny]

I'd be signing up if I was 16 again!

My daughter actually learned on her instructor's Prius, which she thought was a lot of fun. Then she'd get back in to the XC90 and learn how to drive a "big" car. Good experience in both. If you can parallel park "Thor" you're good.

As for manual, I kept her away from the Golf Sportwagen until I knew she was comfortable with the mechanics of driving, and could focus on 3PD . It's now "her" car and she absolutely loves it.

But I agree with our Euro friends - manual is the real way to learn, but sadly those days are quickly coming to an end.

 

[DennisD]

I'd be signing up if I was 16 again!

My daughter actually learned on her instructor's Prius, which she thought was a lot of fun. Then she'd get back in to the XC90 and learn how to drive a "big" car. Good experience in both. If you can parallel park "Thor" you're good.

As for manual, I kept her away from the Golf Sportwagen until I knew she was comfortable with the mechanics of driving, and could focus on 3PD . It's now "her" car and she absolutely loves it.

But I agree with our Euro friends - manual is the real way to learn, but sadly those days are quickly coming to an end.

There are 3 things that we try to instill/teach upon our new drivers.

1. Mechanical- use of the brake, signal, steering etc.
2. Mental- Know the rules of the roads, what to do in certain situations etc.
3. Behavior- Don't Speed, Text, drink and drive etc.

With that being said, the area that we live in (Western Omaha) most likely have around 95% + automatics with the rest being manual.

If we lived in an area that had 25% of more manual, I could see everyone's point of instructing with a manual.

I would guess that the days of manuals are in the rear view mirror (once again, pun intended). I realize they still sell them but even buses and other large trucks are automatics along with tractors. Manuals are getting fewer and fewer and with EV's, I don't even know if it is possible?

There had to be a time when people were wondering why "they" don't teach the controls that were on a Model T? After all, I did.................

I would guess that many on this forum would have no clue on how to drive a Model T. Interesting article below.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15142307/how-to-drive-a-ford-model-t/

I have come to the realization that the most important skill (believe it or not) is the 3rd. one, Behavior.

If students are going to get into a serious crash, 9 times out of 10 it most likely will involve speed or distraction or both.

 

[alexgorod]

It will be very hard for kids who learned how to drive in Mach-E to go to any ICE. You basically ruined their lives!

 

[HuntingPudel]

If everyone learns on an automatic going forward (and a bit back into the past), then owning a manual will make it almost theft proof. Leave the keys in it, they can't drive it away!

ROFL, almost makes me want to put the original 4-speed back in my K/5. No synchro in 1st or reverse. I like that OD 5th too much though. Oh , and 6 synchros. ??

 

[MBCook]

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.

Can’t you limit the max performance with the MyKey thing? Maybe that would be a good idea. I’m one step down from you and I’d be afraid of teaching a kid in it due to the power.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

I think you can limit top speed. I don't know if you can limit acceleration.

 

[mdolan92869]

I think you can limit top speed. I don't know if you can limit acceleration.

I believe Ford does that after 5 seconds

 

[Ghost Ryder]

I believe Ford does that after 5 seconds

True, but if that's his reaction time, my insurance is going to skyrocket.

 

[DennisD]

It will be very hard for kids who learned how to drive in Mach-E to go to any ICE. You basically ruined their lives!

I think you may be correct. It is very fun to drive!!

The EV's will most likely be talked about much more in our little neck of the woods when a few hundred students have driven it. Btw, the area that I live in (per capita) is one of the most wealthy areas in the country. https://www.city-data.com/income/income-Elkhorn-Nebraska.html

You are considered "poor" if you make less than 100K per year. There are NICE cars everywhere I drive!! I am guessing that the EV % will tick up just a touch because of the exposure that this will give. It will basically be a driving billboard for all to see. Ford, if you are listening my daughter needs new shoes. ?

Until I received mine, I had never had a chance to even drive an MME. I did drive my son in laws Tesla and that is what kind of pushed me towards an EV. Now multiple that by 100 and you can kind of see where this may go. The kid will go home and say, "Daddy, I want an electric Mustang" and Poof, it will happen. Just go to a School parking lot and you will see 50K + cars lining the lots. It's crazy.

 

[Lola2004]

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/

Fantastic. Just think, learn to drive in electric and you will never want an uce car. My mother was a driving instructor in the UK, and 90 percent of her pupils bought a mini, because they learned to drive in one

 

[DennisD]

UPDATE:

I drove with the first student in this car today. Everything went well. There is a learning curve to this specific vehicle though.

In getting in, the student had no idea how to use the door button to access. Also, I usually have my mirror (passenger side) set to see at a different angle of what I would use if I were the driver. I didn't realize that after the door opens that the mirror goes back to the original memory setting. I will need to set the memory to off set this in the future.

I did get a chance for the student to test out the Blue Cruise when going down the Freeway. She was a little nervous at first but adapted well after a mile or so.

Overall, as with any newer car it went well. I asked them which car the liked better (I drove with this same student in the past with my 22 Prius), and they said they liked the MME better because you sit up higher.

The real test will be with multiple students in a longer time frame. This morning we were only out for 1.5 hours.

 

[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/

In using the left over decals, I added some new images via a toy car. I tried to replicate it as well as possible. Still working on how to do the side decals with my Company Name on it?

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