It sounds bizarre but I want to try it.
In 20 years or less this will sound as stupid as if some “innovator” of the early automobile days had added a galloping motion to car seats or a lever you could pull to dump fake manure in the middle of the road.
Look, I really enjoy driving a car with a manual transmission, and I will probably own one until they are as expensive to own as a horse is currenrly. But I can’t for the life of me imagine why someone would take a system that has none of the disadvantages of a manual transmission system, and… add them back in a completely superficial way for some reason.
Yeah, I’ve driven manual transmissions my whole life and recently got a leaf, there’s no reason to add all this crap to it to make it more fun. It’s the most responsive car I’ve ever driven and I mostly drive it in “less fun mode”
I could see having a “transmission” in something like a rivian, but more as something for off-roading or carrying heavy loads to give you more control of your speed and rather than mimicking a sports car.
I don’t think I like it. No judgement for others but I don’t like cars with fake vents and I’m sure I won’t like cars with fake transmissions.
I think there is value in a transmission in EVs. While they don’t really need under gears they do need overdrive to get better highway mileage. And I imagine if we put weaker engines we could use under gears to get the performance with less of a power drain.
Some cars first gear is over 3:1 while others it’s closer to 2:1.
Porsche Taycan has a two speed gearbox, primarily so it can cruise at autobahn speeds without impacting acceleration. Efficiency benefits only work if the extra weight of the gearbox and transmission losses aren’t more than the range gained .
https://www.wired.com/story/electric-car-two-speed-transmission-gearbox/
You won’t gain anything meaningful from an overdrive with electric motors, they don’t need to be kept in a small rpm band to not lose efficiency
Overdrive puts the engine in a lower RPM band which would save the battery I feel like. Plus a few cars have em.
Electric motors don’t like low rpm’s. You’ll end up using more battery as the torque requirement to move the taller gear set is higher.
Fords been doing it for a long time already, emulate engine noise through the speakers to make it sound peppier.
They also put plastic tubing and piping to direct the exhaust in the noisiest way possible. I remember when I heard they were doing the sound thing it was in conjunction with a plastic motor component that was effectively shaped like a saxophone that was supposed to produce a superior engine sound.
Fake engine noise is important for safety reasons. If people can’t hear cars, there are far more incidents. A lot of time and effort has gone into sound design for electric vehicles so people can hear when they’re accelerating, slowing down, etc.
The systems they’re talking about are sounds played over the stereo for people inside the car to think the engine is louder/sportier than it is. Pedestrians don’t hear it at all. I unplugged mine at the dealer before I ever turned the car on and have never been disappointed by the actual sound of the engine.
This is so dumb. A manual transmission is one way to solve for the power band of ICEs. EVs don’t have this issue. Why create it?
Yeah, let’s be honest - your average manual car driver chose that transmission for one reason - fun. And there’s really no reason it wouldn’t apply here. Manual transmissions have been “pointless” from a purely practical view for years, especially with autostick being a thing. But people like them because they’re fun to drive, and some people like being more involved with their driving experience.
Tldr; let people have their fun, it’s not like this is ever going to be standard - you’ll never be forced to buy one lol
Maintenance/cost. New autos, especially CVTs, are no fun to work on, and if you need to replace one, you’ll be shelling out way more cash than if you had to replace a 5/6 speed. I agree that most people in NORTH AMERICA buy manuals for fun, but in many other places it’s a different story.
Ngl I feel like falling asleep when I drive an automatic car. I’m not even a car bro or anything. I just think if I’m gonna have to drive a lot, it may as well be more engaging to my monkey brain
But there’s nothing to engage, nothing to do. They just add a momentary drop of power like you’d hear in an automatic. You’re not taking any action. There’s no skill to develop. There’s no fun to be had
I like appreciating the wonders of the machine as they are. I love driving a stick and revel in the sudden revs, power. I love how smooth an automatic can shift. I love the steady pull of a CVT. And as of two hours ago, I love the sudden incredible thrill of huge amounts of torque in an EV. Be true to the machine, don’t accept a fake
So its cosplay for cars? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
All the work and effort needed to eek out the most performance from an ICE car is an understandable act. For purists that don’t mind the effort they can achieve something that most can’t in ICE. For those that can’t we just watch and appreciate their talents.
However for EV none of that is necessary and in fact introducing manual “rev limits” or limitations or speed or performance at certain vehicle speeds to simulate the shortcomings of an ICE car (with a narrow power band that defines the limit of the technology) is the opposite of “extra effort for extra performance”. Its “reduced performance for extra effort”. Its making a thing look and act like another thing purely for cosmetic reasons.
I have no problem if people want to do this or buy vehicles that have this, but its not something I’m interested in.
I’m sure production will make manual mode just a mode, same as shift mode in automatics (including cvt). Some people just enjoy it. I have a mild sports car and a shitty mini truck. I have a “beginner” motorcycle and a rocketing sport bike. The sport bike and sport car check boxes for performing well, but the baby bike and shitty mini truck are a blast to row through the gears on in double-digit speeds and half the gas. For all intents and purposes I’m pretending those two are race vehicles while being far from it with their US-highway shortcomings.
Besides, this is one step closer to the skateboard chassis dream. One base platform with swappable bodies. Could be an auto 7-seat fwd wagon on monday, an auto 3-seat cabover pickup on Thursday, and a manual 2-seat rwd roadster on Saturday.
The sport bike and sport car check boxes for performing well, but the baby bike and shitty mini truck are a blast to row through the gears on in double-digit speeds and half the gas. For all intents and purposes I’m pretending those two are race vehicles while being far from it with their US-highway shortcomings.
But there’s purpose to moving through the gears on the baby bike and shitty mini truck: You’re extracting the most performance from the hardware.
Imagine for a moment you could still do that on those vehicles but that the performance would be worse if you do. Would you still do it?
Not OP, but yes
The act of shifting and the way that it influences the way the car/bike reacts is an integral part of the driving experience. There’s no fun in just pressing a go pedal with no input.
Maybe it would be more engaging to drive, but it’s just more expense and more to go wrong.