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The reason that carmakers dropped manual was not the number of moving parts or that they wore out quicker. If anything, the car wearing out faster sells more ca

The reason that carmakers dropped manual was not the number of moving parts or that they wore out quicker. If anything, the car wearing out faster sells more cars and service. Instead, it was because not enough customers wanted manual: http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2015/02/why-lamborghini-trashed-the-manual-transmission.html http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2015/02/why-lamborghini-t... For a more in-depth analysis of this, see: https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-market-for-manual-transmission-cars-declining https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-market-for-manual-transmiss... However, there are still many that prefer manual, despite things potentially wearing out more quickly. And- you don't have to design a clutch that allows the driver to wear out things more quickly. You could still allow the driver to select the level of torque but only adjust for that in a way that would not cause damage.

IshKebab 10y ago
It's also regional. 90% of cars in the UK are manual. I don't know why exactly, but I guess it is mostly momentum and the fact that they are cheaper to buy and maintain.
- Nullabillity 10y ago
  It's also much nicer and far more consistent to drive a manual. With an automatic, the "meaning" of the gas pedal will vary wildly depending on previous state. On a manual you can feel/see the setting, and more importantly, you can set it and thus anticipate exactly when it changes meaning.
JshWright 10y ago
This is not a manual vs automatic situation. It's "multiple gear ratio transmission with a clutch, etc" vs "single fixed gear ratio". The fact that electric motors have their highest torque at extremely low RPMs, which falls over fairly linearly as power increases means that multi-speed transmissions simply aren't necessary. Why add a bunch of unnecessary complexity? It's just more stuff to break (not to mention more up front cost).
- kleigenfreude 10y ago
  > Why add a bunch of unnecessary complexity? 1. By adding an additional lower gear to an electric truck/4x4, it could provide even more torque at low gears to allow it to carry more load and go up steeper inclines. 2. By adding an additional higher gear to a car, it could go faster and accelerate faster at the top RPM end(s). For example, see how the acceleration drops quickly. That wouldn't happen if you were to keep switching to higher gears: http://static4.consumerreportscdn.org/content/dam/cro/news_articles/cars/CRO_Cars_Hellcat_Chart_06-15.png http://static4.consumerreportscdn.org/content/dam/cro/news_a... The reason they didn't do this in the Tesla was a technical problem, but that could be remedied: https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/adding-second-gear-speed-above-100mph https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/adding-second-gear-spe... "The roadster originally was developed using a two speed gear box. However, they had problems getting it to handle the massive instantaneous torque that the motor could produce, so they went for a single speed."
  - JshWright 10y ago
    Like I said... It's a reasonable thing to do for niche vehicles. For a mass-market vehicle it is completely unnecessary, and only adds complexity and cost.
    - kleigenfreude 10y ago
      > only adds ... cost. Note: while I think this is probably true for electric vehicles that don't offer this option, this is inaccurate for gas vehicles. Manual transmission cars are still cheaper currently and are sold by major manufacturers. Major manufacturers will typically pass on additional cost to the consumer.
      - JshWright 10y ago
        Manual transmissions are not cheaper than a single fixed ratio power-train. The comparison is not between an automatic and a manual transmission. It is between _any_ transmission and "no" transmission.

IshKebab 10y ago

It's also regional. 90% of cars in the UK are manual. I don't know why exactly, but I guess it is mostly momentum and the fact that they are cheaper to buy and maintain.

Nullabillity 10y ago
It's also much nicer and far more consistent to drive a manual. With an automatic, the "meaning" of the gas pedal will vary wildly depending on previous state. On a manual you can feel/see the setting, and more importantly, you can set it and thus anticipate exactly when it changes meaning.

JshWright 10y ago

This is not a manual vs automatic situation. It's "multiple gear ratio transmission with a clutch, etc" vs "single fixed gear ratio". The fact that electric motors have their highest torque at extremely low RPMs, which falls over fairly linearly as power increases means that multi-speed transmissions simply aren't necessary. Why add a bunch of unnecessary complexity? It's just more stuff to break (not to mention more up front cost).

kleigenfreude 10y ago
> Why add a bunch of unnecessary complexity? 1. By adding an additional lower gear to an electric truck/4x4, it could provide even more torque at low gears to allow it to carry more load and go up steeper inclines. 2. By adding an additional higher gear to a car, it could go faster and accelerate faster at the top RPM end(s). For example, see how the acceleration drops quickly. That wouldn't happen if you were to keep switching to higher gears: http://static4.consumerreportscdn.org/content/dam/cro/news_articles/cars/CRO_Cars_Hellcat_Chart_06-15.png http://static4.consumerreportscdn.org/content/dam/cro/news_a... The reason they didn't do this in the Tesla was a technical problem, but that could be remedied: https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/adding-second-gear-speed-above-100mph https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/adding-second-gear-spe... "The roadster originally was developed using a two speed gear box. However, they had problems getting it to handle the massive instantaneous torque that the motor could produce, so they went for a single speed."
- JshWright 10y ago
  Like I said... It's a reasonable thing to do for niche vehicles. For a mass-market vehicle it is completely unnecessary, and only adds complexity and cost.
  - kleigenfreude 10y ago
    > only adds ... cost. Note: while I think this is probably true for electric vehicles that don't offer this option, this is inaccurate for gas vehicles. Manual transmission cars are still cheaper currently and are sold by major manufacturers. Major manufacturers will typically pass on additional cost to the consumer.
    - JshWright 10y ago
      Manual transmissions are not cheaper than a single fixed ratio power-train. The comparison is not between an automatic and a manual transmission. It is between _any_ transmission and "no" transmission.