A real transmission, whether manual or auto, would be useful for the same reason it is in an ice. (man it was hard not to say ice engine) Lack of transmission

A real transmission, whether manual or auto, would be useful for the same reason it is in an ice. (man it was hard not to say ice engine) Lack of transmission is the main reason so many ev's have stupid 600+ hp ratings, it's required to brute force those times when what you really need is a low gear. Especially hideous to think about is suv's and trucks crawling slowly up steep hills. That is just pouring unholy tonnes of current through the windings just to hold the vehicle almost still, and inch it forward against a totally inappropriate gearing. And more every day, just every random acceleration like from a stop, with any load or tow load. Those are brief so I don't worry about cooking motors, but they are frequent and still need ridiculous overkill in the motor to emulate the normal functionality of any other vehicle when it comes to getting going from a stop. That all is just to say that a transmission of any sort would be useful, and then the choice between manual and traditional hydralic auto and cvt is still the same choice as with an ice. The autos are more convenient and potentially more efficient through superior scavenging/shifting keeping the engine always in it's optimum, but the manual is more efficient through less loss in the train which robs overhead every second of operation, and fewer simpler parts cheaper to make and requiring less maintenance over time (even with needing a clutch once in a great while) Except maybe not the same question as ice. An EV might actually be the one application where a cvt might not be terrible, because an ev can be programmed to strictly never exceed whatever threshhold will wear the band and pulleys too fast, and then you can actually get the value from the magic cvt infinite gears.