the Tesla was out of the question and we felt it was best for him to learn in a manual
I wonder on that point ...
For a new learner driver it seems to me that you have to learn both the road-craft and also the clutch / gear-change thingie. If you take away the gear change that must be 50% of the stuff that is hard to do at the outset?
And will youngster's today ever drive a manual - yeah, for a year or two if they get lumbered with a cheap hand-me-down ... but:
I dunno about non Tesla EVs, but I suspect it will be the case with them too because I assume the benefit comes from "battery" in general
Tesla has held the top slot for safety for each model that it has made.
I would want to be putting my young sprogs in the safest car there is. They are far more likely to have a crash then someone experienced like "us adults"
Cost is an issue ... but so is fuel, so one way for parents to help children is to reduce their fuel cost.
So I think the Driving Test is easier to pass (i.e. fewer lessons / cost) with an automatics-only licence, and putting them in an EV will be safer.
2 EV Household - what else you got?
All the family member's cars are Teslas ...
That may change in future once other brands become more appealing - i.e. their drive-train proven, efficiency and charging infrastructure fully-sorted.