# Stick Shift vs Automatic vs Single Pedal **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 17, 2025, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-shift-vs-automatic-vs-single-pedal/1024932 "2025-11-17T20:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-shift-vs-automatic-vs-single-pedal/1024932/101 "2026-01-06T17:12:42Z")
Coming back from December break I hadn’t driven my EV since December 22nd. I’ve driven our Ford Hybrid many times since Dec 30, but the Equinox sat in the driveway. I jumped in today and it took me approximately 60 seconds to be back in one pedal mode. The feedback you get when you take your foot off the accelerator snaps you back into one pedal mode very quickly. The worst part of one pedal for me is tight parallel parking. I switch it off for that. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-shift-vs-automatic-vs-single-pedal/1024932/102 "2026-01-14T13:11:27Z")
A while back I did some quick searches asking if my BMW i3 lit the brake lights under regeneration and the answer was “yes”. But recently I was following another i3 and their lights weren’t coming on when I expected them to. I did some more searching today and found a [Consumer Reports](https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/brake-lights-can-fail-to-provide-fair-warning-on-some-evs-a9533519285/) article saying “The European Union has a regulation that requires EVs to illuminate their brake lights anytime the regenerative-braking system’s deceleration rate exceeds 1.3 meters per second squared, or about 0.13 g.” so that’s probably what I was seeing. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-shift-vs-automatic-vs-single-pedal/1024932/103 "2026-01-14T13:43:00Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > IIRC in Australia if you take your driving test in an automatic vehicle you’re only licensed to drive automatics, but if you take it in a manual you can drive both. I didn’t read this thread the first time, but Japan also have an automatic only licence. My wife has that. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-shift-vs-automatic-vs-single-pedal/1024932/104 "2026-01-14T19:43:54Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > IIRC in Australia if you take your driving test in an automatic vehicle you’re only licensed to drive automatics, but if you take it in a manual you can drive both. Same in the UK and Ireland. And in Ireland it’s mandatory to take 13 lessons before your first test drive. In the UK, the very first part of the test (and the only one the tester will end right off and walk away) is the ability to read a tag (plate) from 20 yards away. I went and got glasses. With EV’s and mini-SUV’s (commonly auto) the manual is losing ground in the UK. I think it’s 3/4 (at least test-wise now). ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-shift-vs-automatic-vs-single-pedal/1024932/105 "2026-01-15T05:57:10Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > IIRC in Australia if you take your driving test in an automatic vehicle you’re only licensed to drive automatics, but if you take it in a manual you can drive both. My friend (in the U.S.A.) learned to drive on a car with a non-synchronous transmission, and he figured he was thereby prepared to drive anything. But that was then. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-shift-vs-automatic-vs-single-pedal/1024932/106 "2026-01-15T12:48:58Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > Same in the UK and Ireland And the former colonies, South Africa and Zimbabwe. I have only ever driven an automatic once… it was weird as hell. I like my stick-shift near-vintage Toyota. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2026, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-shift-vs-automatic-vs-single-pedal/1024932/107 "2026-06-23T12:03:13Z")
I may have managed this in the past but I set out today to commute to work without touching the brake pedal. I may drive a bit more conservatively to ensure that I didn’t need to emergency brake but it wasn’t hard to make it through stop and go traffic in the rain. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2026, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-shift-vs-automatic-vs-single-pedal/1024932/108 "2026-06-23T20:55:12Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The one after that is the idea that the car needs driving at all. Just tap the icon on the map and it’ll go there while you eat your sandwich. Sorry for this near zombie, but I’ve noticed that twenty-somethings these days don’t touch their screens much anymore, and voice recognition is starting to get to where it’ll understand you even with a mouthful of tuna sandwich. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stick-shift-vs-automatic-vs-single-pedal/1024932.md?page=5)