Toyota exposes itself to ridicule: preparing an electric car with a “fake” manual transmission

As weird as it sounds — and as pointless as it sounds — Toyota doesn’t want to get rid of manual shifting in its electric vehicles. In accordance with Wall Street Magazinemobile company working on plug-in car prototype with a gear lever, as in internal combustion models.

The manufacturer emphasizes that the purpose keep the traditional driving experience for those users or motorists who desire it. All this, of course, while taking advantage of the benefits of an electric vehicle.

Manual shifting, of course, which Toyota wants to bring to some of its EVs. it’s completely artificialHe. In fact, the company is mimicking the use of the most traditional gearshift. This is achieved by engaging a gearshift lever inside the car to allow a person to change between different gears, and by creating noise through software and a speaker system placed inside the car.

Toyota wants manual shifting that does little

However, we must keep in mind that an electric car does not have an internal combustion engine. No transmission shafts, no planetary gears, no other type. Therefore, no matter how much the driver shifts gears with the lever, he will not notice any reaction in the car, since the shift will actually still be automatic.

Yes, the company seems to be working on a system that causes the car to stop if someone manipulates the gear lever.

In any case, Toyota brings this idea to life. prototype still in development, so it’s unclear if we’ll see it in the brand’s future EVs. Moreover, this is not the only idea that some manufacturers have had to incorporate elements of a traditional car into an electric one.

In fact, due to the need to integrate a buzzer that alerts pedestrians to the presence of a vehicle, models like the Tesla include a sound that mimics the sound of an internal combustion engine. There are manufacturers that also allow the driver to choose between different engine sounds. This is something that many EV users don’t like knowing that the sound is actually generated by software.