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Seems very similar to paddle shifters in a gas CVT. There's no mechanical connection between the "clutch peddle" and "shifter" to the actual transmission, it is

Seems very similar to paddle shifters in a gas CVT. There's no mechanical connection between the "clutch peddle" and "shifter" to the actual transmission, it is all just fed into a computer and a simulation is created to give the driver a warm fizzy feeling. If this makes people feel better during the transitional phase, I guess that counts for something, but this is a manual car simulation only.

consp 4y ago
My Current car does this when the the petrol engine kicks in (Hybrid with CVT), it does a tiny bit of "gear simulation" with the engine if you floor it and it uses the petrol engine together with the electric one and it adds a bit more of fake engine sound though the speakers to make it more obvious. Strange thing is they chose to only have "three gears", no matter at what speed you do it the max is two shifts. Not that it matters a lot, the shift in revs is not too much and if it gets petrol loving people into hybrid vehicles I'm OK with that.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 4y ago
  Nissan does this with their CVTs as well. Apparently they found that people didn't really like the "all one gear" feel, so they programmed in "gear changes" where the CVT changes ratio like an automatic. You still get the CVT advantage when going up a hill or stomping on the accelerator, though. They've been phasing out their CVTs in favor of traditional automatics, though.
  - SoftTalker 4y ago
    Automatics now routinely have 7 or more gears. That's essentially a CVT for all practical purposes.
    - csunbird 4y ago
      My automatic (non DCT) car has 8 gears and I usually don’t even feel the shifts after 3rd gear at all.
  - davewritescode 4y ago
    They’re phasing them out because they’re total junk. The Jatco CVT is so unreliable it’s been known to die at 30k miles and has cost Nissan a fortune in lawsuits and recalls.
    - kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 4y ago
      I've heard this, but have yet to experience it.
jonathanlydall 4y ago
I don’t see the point for EVs, but I actually somewhat regularly use the “gear down” paddle on my Honda Jazz (AKA Fit in other countries) CVT, but not for a “warm fizzy feeling”. It actually “locks” the gears to a particular ratio which allows me to use the engine to keep the car from exceeding a particular speed when coasting down a hill. When I start using the accelerator after, it very quickly switches itself back to automatic as soon as the “locked in” gear ratio is clearly non-optimal. I’ve never bothered using them for any other scenario though, I don’t see the point as the CVT (at least on my car) very intuitively adjusts gear ratio based on how far I’ve pushed in the accelerator, it’s such a pleasure to drive.
- LorenPechtel 4y ago
  Yup, I've used a paddle shifter in a rental for this very purpose--using the engine as a brake while going downhill. My Corolla only has two possible downshifts and neither is all that good for holding speed on a downhill but the cruise control is integrated into the system--I can set a speed and the computer will do a pretty good job of using the engine to keep from exceeding it too much and since it's adaptive it will always avoid the car in front even if otherwise it doesn't hold the speed that perfectly. Since I found that out I've never touched the downshifts.

consp 4y ago

My Current car does this when the the petrol engine kicks in (Hybrid with CVT), it does a tiny bit of "gear simulation" with the engine if you floor it and it uses the petrol engine together with the electric one and it adds a bit more of fake engine sound though the speakers to make it more obvious. Strange thing is they chose to only have "three gears", no matter at what speed you do it the max is two shifts. Not that it matters a lot, the shift in revs is not too much and if it gets petrol loving people into hybrid vehicles I'm OK with that.

kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 4y ago
Nissan does this with their CVTs as well. Apparently they found that people didn't really like the "all one gear" feel, so they programmed in "gear changes" where the CVT changes ratio like an automatic. You still get the CVT advantage when going up a hill or stomping on the accelerator, though. They've been phasing out their CVTs in favor of traditional automatics, though.
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  Automatics now routinely have 7 or more gears. That's essentially a CVT for all practical purposes.
  - csunbird 4y ago
    My automatic (non DCT) car has 8 gears and I usually don’t even feel the shifts after 3rd gear at all.
- davewritescode 4y ago
  They’re phasing them out because they’re total junk. The Jatco CVT is so unreliable it’s been known to die at 30k miles and has cost Nissan a fortune in lawsuits and recalls.
  - kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 4y ago
    I've heard this, but have yet to experience it.

jonathanlydall 4y ago

I don’t see the point for EVs, but I actually somewhat regularly use the “gear down” paddle on my Honda Jazz (AKA Fit in other countries) CVT, but not for a “warm fizzy feeling”. It actually “locks” the gears to a particular ratio which allows me to use the engine to keep the car from exceeding a particular speed when coasting down a hill. When I start using the accelerator after, it very quickly switches itself back to automatic as soon as the “locked in” gear ratio is clearly non-optimal. I’ve never bothered using them for any other scenario though, I don’t see the point as the CVT (at least on my car) very intuitively adjusts gear ratio based on how far I’ve pushed in the accelerator, it’s such a pleasure to drive.

LorenPechtel 4y ago
Yup, I've used a paddle shifter in a rental for this very purpose--using the engine as a brake while going downhill. My Corolla only has two possible downshifts and neither is all that good for holding speed on a downhill but the cruise control is integrated into the system--I can set a speed and the computer will do a pretty good job of using the engine to keep from exceeding it too much and since it's adaptive it will always avoid the car in front even if otherwise it doesn't hold the speed that perfectly. Since I found that out I've never touched the downshifts.