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In some special cases a transmission may make sense on an EV. Electric motors are very inefficient at low revs. Most cars don't spend much time at low revs wit
by carlmr 4y ago
In some special cases a transmission may make sense on an EV.
Electric motors are very inefficient at low revs. Most cars don't spend much time at low revs with a lot of torque output so this doesn't matter. But a car like a jeep that may haul a high load at low revs up a hill may be more efficient with a transmission.
Of course you have to account for the weight of the transmission and its inefficiency as well to see if it makes sense overall.
- dogma1138 4y agoMost EVs already have gearboxes, this also isn’t really a transmission it’s just emulating one with haptic and auditory feedback.
- radiorental 4y agoWhen you say "gearboxes" as in traditional multi ratio transmissions? If so, are you 100% sure about that?
- pcl 4y agoIIRC the Tesla Roadster had a 2-speed transmission initially, due to engineering challenges with high-rpm bearings. But they struggled with the engineering challenges of high-torque transmissions, and eventually sorted out the bearing issues and went back to 1-speed.
- elihu 4y agoMost EVs have a single-speed gearbox. A few have multiple gear ratios, but it's not common. (It's not unusually for ICE vehicles converted to EV to retain a manual transmission, but conversions aren't being done in large numbers.)
- dogma1138 4y agoFor conversions you usually find an optimal reduction ratio for your motor and whilst you can reuse the transmission it’s fairly rare that you continue to operate it.
- dogma1138 4y agoThey have gearboxes with a fixed ratio that is optimal for the vehicle, some have variable speed gear boxes 2-3. The motor isn’t just connected to the drive train in 1:1 that won’t end up well for neither the drive train or the motor.
- camhenlin 4y agoPorsche Taycan has a 2 speed transmission: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28903274/porsche-taycan-transmission/ https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28903274/porsche-taycan-t...
- elihu 4y agoThe article is about a fake transmission, but that's separate and mostly unrelated topic from whether other manufacturers might want to use a real transmission.