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Europe has never had much love for automatic gearshifts, and pretty much everyone learns to drive with a manual transmission. With hybrid cars, however, manual
by bonzini 4y ago
Europe has never had much love for automatic gearshifts, and pretty much everyone learns to drive with a manual transmission. With hybrid cars, however, manual transmission is simply not an option.
Unfortunately, not all automatics are equally comfortable, and a quick test drive is often not enough to find out.
- nickdandakis 4y agoyeah the article has a very US-centric take, stick shift is still very much alive in Europe. it's a lot of the times the more affordable option, and plenty of places in Europe dont have bumper to bumper traffic that makes stick a pain
- feintruled 4y agoThe point is the same here though - electric cars don't have them, so it'll die out just as quickly (the fall off being even more precipitous). It'll be more missed here than in the states, where it sounds like it is already nearly gone.
- cm277 4y agoHmm, the EU also has stricter emission requirements from ICE cars, so above some displacement (roughly 1500cc or so I think), manuals are becoming rare, as better emissions means turbos, which means higher revs, which means more gears (7-8) at which point a manual becomes a pain in the ass. Manuals are not long for this world (unfortunately): the low end (smaller engines, city cars) are likely to go EV or auto for comfort in traffic and the high end is likely to go auto for performance/emissions.