Electric cars are only equipped with an automatic gearbox. But Toyota has devised a system that would adapt a manual gearbox to this engine. The objective is to provide drivers with driving sensations similar to a car with internal combustion engines.
What are the differences between an electric car and a thermal car? There are autonomy of course, the first cannot travel as many kilometers as the second, with an equivalent range. Charging also, it is so much easier and faster to refuel a thermal car than to recharge the battery of an electric car. There is also the cost of useeven if the difference tends to be reduced since the strong increase operated in the fast charging networks.
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In addition to these differences that we very often mention in our columns, there is one that directly affects handling: no electric car offers a manual gearbox. And that’s logical: the design of the electric motor is not suitable for this. There is onlyonly one “speed”. As a result, you just have to press the accelerator to move the car forward and press a little harder to accelerate. And that takes away some of the fun of driving.
Toyota is working on a manual gearbox for electric motors
In order to seduce fans of the manual gearbox, Toyota is trying to adapt the latter to the electric motor. The Japanese firm has filed a patent that explains how the engine would emulate a “gear change”, that is to say the operation which, mechanically, changes the ratio of the transmission. The car would thus react as if there were a real change of gear, in particular by decelerating slightly when the clutch is activated.
The objective here is to give feelings and not to change all the mechanics of an electric motor. In the patent, Toyota speaks of “pseudo transmission”, “pseudo clutch” or “pseudo report”. Yes, the electric car would react like a thermal model to a gear change. But no, you could not gain recovery with this system.
Because that’s what ultimately lacks in electric cars. If the latter benefit from a start on the wheel caps, the acceleration tends to gradually drop as the car picks up speed. However, downshifting on a thermal car allows you to regain responsiveness. This is what Ford tried to bring in 2019 with its prototype electric Mustang with manual gearbox (photo above).
Source: BZ Forums
