New system is intended to offer greater involvement in EV sports cars – we drive it
I don't really see the point of this. It's just adding complexity for the sake of it. As far as I can tell when you change gear it just changes some software parameters, there are no physical gears. Yet there's a clutch and the ability to stall?
People in niches generally pay more. EVs are more expensive and made in smaller quantities (until production ramps up, maybe). So making EVs to appeal to a niche consumer with disposable income can be a smart move to jumpstart the EV business.
That's (one reason) why Tesla started with luxury sports cars. Car enthusiasts and other lovers of manual gear shift are another interesting segment to try and tap. I wonder what other segments they might go for? Racing? Off-road? Delivery? Taxi? Commercial transport?
It's tricky though. You don't see a lot of EV motorcycles, but I think that's because ebikes are a better power/weight ratio for the form-factor and use case. No one's getting a Harley to save the environment.
If I had the time, money, and knowhow my dream car is an electric swapped Datsun 240z. You can keep the manual transmission when you're swapping an ICE car, I think it'd be pretty neat
As a gearhead I get the sporting and nostalgia aspects. But as a member of the 21 century, I think we can all agree new automatic transmissions are way quicker than any human can be and it’s time to move on. Plus, and EV doesn’t need a transmission, fewer parts to fail is one of the best parts.
It's not very often people express that what they think isn't absolutely the only opinion people should have and just wanted to say I appreciate that you're willing to admit that.
Agreed. Not only does it lead to a more connected experience it forces the driver to may more attention to their vehicle and surroundings. I feel I am more prone to say dreaming of becoming distracted behind the wheel of an automatic vehicle.
My experience is opposite. I can focus more on driving without the distraction of gear shifting and keep both hands on wheel.
Also in some circumstances having to change gear in some situations restricts your body position when you should have more freedom of movement to properly look around for pedestrians and cyclists - this is the case for me when turning into my housing estate.
The again i live in a rhd country so I change gears with my left hand. I find it a bit easier to do it with right.
A lot of the features listed in the article (written by an AI?) sound corny. This is probably a thing for managers and executive level luxurybros, like the upper level EV market.
The idea of giving the driver more control like this in an EV so it's more fun is good though. They just feel so fkn heavy and like you're driving a computer.
Yeah, unless there is a performance benefit, it's just a potential for problems. Theoretically, an electric motor could be designed with the rpm and torque output of an ICE where a manual transmission would be beneficial for a car. Electronically simulating a transmission is ridiculous.
Honestly most electric motors dont reach peak power until they get to high RPM... a transmission does still make sense if youre not using a tesla motor made to run at like 18k rpm. Why simulate it?
I didn't read the article, but in a modern ev I can only see merit in maybe 2 or three speeds plus reverse if it's an actual transmission and not just a parameter change.
With the stick shift Honda civic converted to electric that I tried out when deciding if I wanted to convert my own, it had the original transmission and you really only used gear 2 and 4. You came to a full stop geared in, and changed directly to 2 while at 0 rpm. Definitely a strange experience to anyone used to stick shift.
What are you talking about? It has an electric motor. It has a near flat toque curve. This literally gives you less control. There is a reason Formula E cars only have two gears and spend the majority of the race in second.
This seems cool and I want to try it out. It would be cool if you had the option to turn it on or off.
Why this is a feature like this important? There are people who feel that EV’s lack the soul and/or personality of ICE cars. There was a recent YouTube video I watched where one of the hosts described a tesla as being designed by “someone who thinks driving is a chore.” This feature would provide him and the people like him with EV’s that have personality.
I can totally see this feature enabling simulation of different power curves like a V8, V6, I4, with and without turbo’s and superchargers. I can also see the car tuner community designing their own torque curves which would be amazing. We can already adjust ICE car torque curves over the internet, why not EV’s?
We do think that EVs lack soul. However it isn't because they lack a manual gearbox. It's because they are treated like electronics devices. You are discouraged or outright blocked from repairing, tinkering, and modifying most EVs. They are all focused on peak efficiency or luxury, not towards a fun and engaging driving experience.
To be clear, I didn't expect the first wave of EVs to be driver focused canyon carvers, but to get me into one they'll need more than fake engine noises and simulated gearboxes.
I can see a practical use for this if the simulation is as genuine as claimed. If a driver wants to learn how to drive stick it seems these cars can be used for teaching it without risking damage like that of gears grinding. They could learn how to use a clutch before starting to learn to drive a sports bike, for example.
I know in the country I live in if you do your driving test with automatic then your license is only valid for an automatic. This law should probably be changed imo, but I can see it causing people to be hesitant to go in on an ev if it means they will likely only be able to drive it. For people who already have a license, it obviously isn't an issue if they are just getting a new car, but they are also looking at young first time buyers and new drivers.
The way I have usually seen in the past is that, if you get an automatic license you can only drive automatic. If you get a manual transmission license you can do both. Is this not how your country works? I don't know how this is relevant otherwise.
It is. That's what I was saying. Perhaps they are doing this for places that are hesitant to purchase a car that isn't manual, because they (or their kid when getting a license) would have a limited license with an automatic.
When we first moved here we got an automatic with low miles for super cheap, because no one wanted an automatic.
Being able to choose when to shift is often more important than how quickly you shift. Paddle shifters require expensive transmissions or some software trickery.
At normal speeds gears do not make sense for a daily. At track speeds you'll find most EVs, outside the 600+ bhp type models hit their top end. Having a second and third gear is helpful for that. Not shift speed.
Since it's all software, it would surprise me if it can't just be disabled when you're not in the mood for fun. I think that will make it a bit more appealing to the masses.
It makes no sense for EV sports cars. Manuals on ICE cars make sense because being able to chose exactly when the car shifts is important and because sequential shift and dual clutch transmissions are extremely expensive.
most amusingly no torque when you suddenly try and accelerate in top gear,
That's heroin for the carbon junkies, nothing more. I "look forward" to an armada of assholes trying to simulate asshole driver behaviour on an electric car 🙄