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Manual shifting is neither possible nor even relevant in electric cars or cvt (continuous variable transmission) cars. Their rise will be the true end of the s

Manual shifting is neither possible nor even relevant in electric cars or cvt (continuous variable transmission) cars. Their rise will be the true end of the stick shift.

Animats 10y ago
Well, there was the Lotus Evora electric, in 2013.[1] This was a high-performance electric sports car with a fake manual shift and fake engine noises. This feature could be disabled, and was not seen again in later models. [1] http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1081736_fake-shifting-for-electric-cars-dumbest-idea-of-the-year http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1081736_fake-shifting-fo...
gambiting 10y ago
Why would it not be possible? An electric motor can be hooked up to a normal transmission without any problem - the thing is, that there's no real reason to do that, but it's definitely not impossible.
pmontra 10y ago
Actually most Formula E cars do use gears and manual shifting. This is why [1] http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/november/boxing-clever.aspx http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/november/boxing-clev... [2] https://www.reddit.com/r/FormulaE/comments/2gbika/why_do_formula_e_cars_have_a_five_speed_gearbox/ https://www.reddit.com/r/FormulaE/comments/2gbika/why_do_for... None of that probably matters for road cars. I'm using a car sharing service's single gear electric cars. They have great acceleration and are easy to drive. Better than automatic transmission cars.
- exDM69 10y ago
  For this year, the regulations of Formula E were changed to be more flexible and there's more diversity in the drive train. Now there are cars with no transmission and cars with 4 or 5 forward gears. The engines are slightly different to compensate.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
Annatar 10y ago
It's possible if an electric car had a manual transmission, but no company had yet built one because electric motors cam regulate revolutions per minute with amperage and voltage. However, no studies that I'm aware of to determine whether the battery range could be extended with gear ratios have been performed.
- Already__Taken 10y ago
  Best evidence you might find is the logic in formula-e. quickly found a subreddit thread with the question https://www.reddit.com/r/FormulaE/comments/2gbika/why_do_formula_e_cars_have_a_five_speed_gearbox/ https://www.reddit.com/r/FormulaE/comments/2gbika/why_do_for...
- evanreichard 10y ago
  The Rimac Concept_One is a fully electric car that has two gears (DCT though). I'm not sure any one has tested as to whether the range is extended in one gear vs the other. I would assume it would.
- extrapickles 10y ago
  The main issue is that the efficiency curve of a electric motor is fairly flat once it gets >60% load[0]. There is a small hump typically around 60-80% output that is most efficient, but its only a few percent at best, so not worth the cost of a high torque transmission as adding a few extra batteries to cover the loss at slow speeds is much cheaper. When cost is no object (eg: racing) you see transmissions so they can get peak power for longer. Even in a application that I was involved in where power was ~$200/Watt, fixed gearing was chosen as the extra weight of the transmission made the whole system less efficient than what was gained by the transmission. [0]: http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=bae_fac http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?articl... (Its for Irrigation pumps, but still in the same class of power output as cars)
codingdave 10y ago
That is completely dependent on the design of the engine. There is no reason that an electric motor cannot be hooked to a transmission. It just doesn't need it as badly because they can handle sustained high RPMs, and in many cases, are specifically designed for high RPM operations. So it makes sense to keep things simple, and leave out the transmission, and that is what we are seeing right now. But as electric cars become more common, they will need to be able to handle all types of driving, including steep slopes, which is a very common reason to stay in a lower gear. There will be demand for such a function, even if not in every vehicle.
- NickM 10y ago
  > But as electric cars become more common, they will need to be able to handle all types of driving, including steep slopes, which is a very common reason to stay in a lower gear. There will be demand for such a function, even if not in every vehicle. There's no need to add a transmission for this: many electric cars automatically apply regenerative braking when you let up on the accelerator, which provides similar benefits. It actually provides a really similar feel to driving a manual in low gear already.
scott_karana 10y ago
Bullshit. Initial models of the Tesla Roadster used a transmission with two gears because the motor wasn't flexible enough when direct driven. And the final model continued to use a final gear reduction.

Manual shifting is neither possible nor even relevant in electric cars or cvt (continuous variable transmission) cars. Their rise will be the true end of the stick shift.

Animats 10y ago

Well, there was the Lotus Evora electric, in 2013.[1] This was a high-performance electric sports car with a fake manual shift and fake engine noises. This feature could be disabled, and was not seen again in later models. [1] http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1081736_fake-shifting-for-electric-cars-dumbest-idea-of-the-year http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1081736_fake-shifting-fo...

gambiting 10y ago

Why would it not be possible? An electric motor can be hooked up to a normal transmission without any problem - the thing is, that there's no real reason to do that, but it's definitely not impossible.

pmontra 10y ago

Actually most Formula E cars do use gears and manual shifting. This is why [1] http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/november/boxing-clever.aspx http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/november/boxing-clev... [2] https://www.reddit.com/r/FormulaE/comments/2gbika/why_do_formula_e_cars_have_a_five_speed_gearbox/ https://www.reddit.com/r/FormulaE/comments/2gbika/why_do_for... None of that probably matters for road cars. I'm using a car sharing service's single gear electric cars. They have great acceleration and are easy to drive. Better than automatic transmission cars.

exDM69 10y ago
For this year, the regulations of Formula E were changed to be more flexible and there's more diversity in the drive train. Now there are cars with no transmission and cars with 4 or 5 forward gears. The engines are slightly different to compensate.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

Annatar 10y ago

It's possible if an electric car had a manual transmission, but no company had yet built one because electric motors cam regulate revolutions per minute with amperage and voltage. However, no studies that I'm aware of to determine whether the battery range could be extended with gear ratios have been performed.

Already__Taken 10y ago
Best evidence you might find is the logic in formula-e. quickly found a subreddit thread with the question https://www.reddit.com/r/FormulaE/comments/2gbika/why_do_formula_e_cars_have_a_five_speed_gearbox/ https://www.reddit.com/r/FormulaE/comments/2gbika/why_do_for...
evanreichard 10y ago
The Rimac Concept_One is a fully electric car that has two gears (DCT though). I'm not sure any one has tested as to whether the range is extended in one gear vs the other. I would assume it would.
extrapickles 10y ago
The main issue is that the efficiency curve of a electric motor is fairly flat once it gets >60% load[0]. There is a small hump typically around 60-80% output that is most efficient, but its only a few percent at best, so not worth the cost of a high torque transmission as adding a few extra batteries to cover the loss at slow speeds is much cheaper. When cost is no object (eg: racing) you see transmissions so they can get peak power for longer. Even in a application that I was involved in where power was ~$200/Watt, fixed gearing was chosen as the extra weight of the transmission made the whole system less efficient than what was gained by the transmission. [0]: http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=bae_fac http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?articl... (Its for Irrigation pumps, but still in the same class of power output as cars)

codingdave 10y ago

That is completely dependent on the design of the engine. There is no reason that an electric motor cannot be hooked to a transmission. It just doesn't need it as badly because they can handle sustained high RPMs, and in many cases, are specifically designed for high RPM operations. So it makes sense to keep things simple, and leave out the transmission, and that is what we are seeing right now. But as electric cars become more common, they will need to be able to handle all types of driving, including steep slopes, which is a very common reason to stay in a lower gear. There will be demand for such a function, even if not in every vehicle.

NickM 10y ago
> But as electric cars become more common, they will need to be able to handle all types of driving, including steep slopes, which is a very common reason to stay in a lower gear. There will be demand for such a function, even if not in every vehicle. There's no need to add a transmission for this: many electric cars automatically apply regenerative braking when you let up on the accelerator, which provides similar benefits. It actually provides a really similar feel to driving a manual in low gear already.

scott_karana 10y ago

Bullshit. Initial models of the Tesla Roadster used a transmission with two gears because the motor wasn't flexible enough when direct driven. And the final model continued to use a final gear reduction.