much has been written about the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030/2035, with various stories covering everything from the relatively high cost of EVs and how to replace lost fuel duty, to on-street charging issues, supply-chain ethics, market appetite and range inconvenience.
But there’s one question that hasn’t been addressed: what will happen to our ability to drive cars with manual gearboxes once every new car is an EV?

DSG: what is a direct shift Gearbox and how do they work?

Here’s how this problem plays out: best now, if you want to drive a car with a manual gearbox, you have to take your driving test in a manual car. Take your test in an car and, unless you retake your test in a three-pedal car, you’re confined to self-shifting transmissions in perpetuity.
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, about 90 per cent of learners opt for the manual option (as an interesting side note the pass rate is considerably higher for these people). and while the proportion of auto-only tests has enhanced from around four to 10 per cent over the years, it’s clear many people want the ability to drive manuals over the course of their driving career.
But with the exception of one or two curios like the original Honda Insight, every hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric car comes with an automatic gearbox. technology may develop (and we’ll gloss over mild hybrids, which won’t escape the 2030 ban), but for now everything that doesn’t have a pure petrol or diesel engine comes with only two pedals.