What is the difference between a C1 driver's license and a C2 driver's license?
3 Answers
Here are the differences between a C1 driver's license and a C2 driver's license: 1. Different difficulty levels in the test: C1 is a manual transmission small vehicle driver's license, and its test difficulty is higher than that of a C2 driver's license. 2. Different permitted vehicle types: The C1 driver's license permits driving small and micro passenger vehicles, light and micro cargo vehicles, and light, small, and micro special-purpose vehicles, including all vehicle types under C2, C3, and C4. On the other hand, the C2 driver's license permits driving small and micro automatic transmission passenger vehicles and light and micro automatic transmission cargo vehicles. 3. Different learning costs: Because the C1 driver's license test is more widely taken and uses manual transmission vehicles, it is generally cheaper than the C2 driver's license in terms of price.
I've been driving manual transmission cars for over a decade. The main differences between C1 and C2 licenses lie in the permitted vehicle types and driving operations. A C1 license allows you to drive both manual and automatic transmission small vehicles, while C2 only permits automatic transmission vehicles. When learning to drive with C1, you need to practice manual transmission operations like clutch coordination and gear shifting, and the driving test includes hill starts and gear changing exercises. C2 is much simpler as it's fully automatic transmission without worrying about clutch operation. Nowadays many young people directly opt for C2 since automatic transmission cars dominate the market. However, experienced drivers like us recommend getting C1 - it prevents you from being helpless when encountering manual transmission cars, and makes it easier to upgrade to a motorcycle license later. Even if you don't want to drive manual in the future, a C1 license still allows you to drive automatic cars, giving you dual insurance.
I just got my driver's license and chose C2, mainly because learning automatic transmission is faster and easier. With manual transmission, you have to control the clutch, and I kept stalling at startup. During the slope start practice in Subject 2, I got scolded badly by the instructor. C2 is all about automatic transmission, where controlling the accelerator and brake is much simpler, and there's one fewer test item in Subject 2 (gear shifting). However, C2 has limitations—if you want to drive a friend's manual transmission car after getting the license, it's illegal, and you'll face points deduction and fines if caught. So, you need to think carefully before signing up about whether you'll need to drive manual transmission in the future. Nowadays, shared cars and ride-hailing services are mostly automatic transmission, so C2 is completely sufficient. My colleague spent three months getting a C1 license, while I got my C2 in just two months, saving time to do more food delivery gigs.
