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Can’t Wait for Manuals in EVs? They May Be Coming Sooner Than You Think
The fact that the idea of manual transmissions for electric vehicles is even a thing is moderately surprising: It seems like the answer to a question nobody is asking. But apparently someone is, and manufacturers, especially those hailing from Japan, are answering with full manual transmissions, fake clutch and all.
There’s a precedent for this. If you think back to the 1980s, most of Japan’s motorcycle companies recognized that American loyalty to Harley Davidson just wasn’t waning—despite the allure of the silky-smooth engines from Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Yamaha—and they knew they had to take action.
So they all pursued the less silky-smooth V-twin market that Harley owned. It’s not hard to imagine the conversations product planners had with the engineers: “No, it needs to vibrate more and make the correct noise! You’re building it all wrong!”
You’d walk into, say, a Yamaha showroom, and there it was: the 1981 Virago 750 V-twin, parked next to a silky-smooth Seca XJ750 with the inline four-cylinder engine. (Both bikes were nicely done, but like an idiot, I bought a Yamaha XS650 Heritage Special with the vertical twin, left over from when Yamaha was copying Triumph and BSA instead of Harley. You want noise and vibration? Right here.)
Decades later, what we’re talking about is a full manual-transmission sensation, complete with a fake clutch pedal and the ability to actually “stall” the car if you don’t fake-shift properly. This differs from the arrangement that is already available in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, which uses paddle shifters to simulate an eight-speed transmission. It’s accompanied by piped-in noise from eight speakers, which Forbes says is a “Shelby-like guttural growl” that caused the writer “to giggle just a bit at the delightful engine sounds.”
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In the race to get a manual-transmission vehicle into production, it would appear that Toyota is the farthest down that road. In 2023, the company invited some automotive writers to Japan to drive a Lexus UX300e, the production version of which Lexus advertises as “creating a uniquely smooth and quiet experience.” But this particular UX300e had been fitted with a clutch and a six-speed manual transmission instead of the usual one-speed found, quite reasonably, in most electric vehicles.
The “noise,” incidentally, was supplied by a recording of a gas-powered Volkswagen Golf. The clutch pedal was only there for show: You could shift gears at full speed without it. Keep the clutch pedal pressed in, though, and the vehicle would eventually slow to a stop.
Reviews of the manual UX300e were interesting. “To give due credit, the idea of the manual EV felt much less silly after we had experienced it,” said Car and Driver. The headline on the Motor Trend story was “We Tried Toyota’s Fake Manual Transmission for EVs. Is It Awesome?” That publication said a manual in an electric car “strikes us as both a fun party trick to show your pals and a useful tool to transform a car from faithful weekday commuter to fun back-road blaster or autocross champ on the weekends. Sign us up.” And Road & Track said, “You’re out of free articles. Join now.” Oh, sorry.
As for Honda, that’s interesting, too: In 2022, Honda’s “head of electrification,” Shinji Aoyama, was interviewed by C&D. When asked about manuals in electric vehicles, the story said, “He personally does not like the idea of an artificial solution like this and said that Honda would pursue other ways of making its EVs fun to drive.”
Then last October, it was confirmed that Honda had already developed a manual transmission for electric vehicles, which evidently impressed Motor Authority even before it was available to drive: “A manual transmission like the one Honda has developed will make driving an EV much more fun, meaning it can deliver an extra layer of emotion, just like in a conventional manual-equipped car.”
And, don’t forget the Germans: In 2023, BMW M CEO Franciscus Van Meel told the Australian website whichcar.com that a solution for making electric vehicles appealing to enthusiasts “might be to simulate gears or to have another acoustic feedback, or even vibrations as a feedback.”
American companies are in on it, too: Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford Global Technologies is also interested in the fake, err, simulation technology, filing a very real patent application in late 2023 for a “SHIFTER ASSEMBLY FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE” which, reading through the application, seems to consist largely of “a plurality of wires.” As for the “why?,” the patent application says that “electric vehicles lack [the] operator-to-vehicle physical feedback that is advantageous in conventional motor vehicles.” The patent was published on March 20, meaning that it has been received and is under review.
No need for Ford to patent piped-in sound, because you can already equip a Mustang Mach-E with a 300-watt Borla Active Performance Sound system, which pipes in “professional recordings” of V-8-powered cars that have Borla exhausts. Those sounds include “idle, ramps to redline, cruising, throttle lifts, ‘burbles & pops’ and more,” Borla says, thus adding “a cherished layer of sensory awareness to driving enthusiasts.”
From all indications, it looks like Toyota will be the first out of the gate with a manual-transmission electric vehicle. Two years ago, in a presentation titled “Let’s Change the Future of Cars,” Toyota Battery Electric Vehicle head Takero Kato said he would indeed change the future of cars with developments like “The manual EV. We will deliver exciting surprises and fun to our customers with technologies achievable only by a carmaker.” This supposedly happens in 2026, unless that’s a fake date, too.
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I love manual gearboxes, but this is all utter fakery. No interest in this whatsoever. That they’re going through this much trouble to try to make EVs engaging to drive, to give them “character,” just confirms that they’re NOT engaging to drive, no matter how objectively good and capable they are. Not to me. Yes, I’ve driven many TVs, and they’re very impressive in many ways, but they leave me completely cold. This makes it worse — I HATE fakery, whether it’s fake engine sounds or fake/contrived manual gearboxes. May as well just “drive” a simulator.
I would be more interested in a fake manual made out of a planetary gearset automatic with a servo acuated clutch instead of a torque converter. That should be pretty easy to come up with electric clutch pedal and shifter that can drive like a manual or automatic when you want to. Shouldn’t be too hard to emulate shift gate detents and the clutch beleville spring feedback for the driver.
Interesting for sure, but since 99% of all drivers are more focused on their cell phones than anything else, I don’t think the automakers should spend much effort on this.
In the earliest days of the automobile, mfgers were trying out drivers’ seats that would pitch to and fro to imitate the riding riding a horse. Nah… too silly. But in the 21st C imitation mt’s and engine noise seems like a good idea???
Nothing beats a big V8 muscle car like my Corvette equipped with a 7 speed manual. You are more connected to the car and the road. Paddle shifters do not create this feeling. I love my RCF but using its paddle shifters does not compare to my Corvette.
I’ll write again, I believe more options are preferable to fewer options so manufacturers should offer whatever lame brained bass ackward gimmick they think they can sell.
It’s just a little ironic that America’s Sportscar is no longer available as a manual yet upcoming EVs will be.
I wonder what exactly the marketers & bean counters came up with. In other words, the typical prospective buyers of EVs, are they, or were they, ever interested in a M/T equipped vehicle? That aside, I find the idea quite intriguing, granted it’s a genuine M/T AND clutch assembly with third pedal. I cannot foretell my future, but I sincerely doubt I’ll ever go the EV route. There’s sooo much more politics and real-world issues behind it than ICEVs. But ultimately, whatever floats one’s boat…
There are people out there who practiced hours upon hours on that stupid video guitar game, instead of just practicing guitar.
Many early (like 70s) EV conversions used manual transmissions. REAL manual transmissions. That was mainly because the electric motors and battery banks (always lead acid car or golf cart batteries) used didn’t have the power modern EVs have. IIRC some didn’t use a clutch, you just let off the accelerator to cut power input then shifted. The advantage of a modern EV motor and battery pack is that you don’t need a transmission to multiply motor power, which simplifies construction greatly. The system described in the article is a simulated (FAKE!!) manual transmission experience, all in software. If you’re going to use a manual reduce the size of the motor and use a real manual trans! Clutch optional…
Don’t care about simulation noise or fake shifting but if it allows me to lock the engine to the wheels I’m all for it, driving a current CVT is just insulting
When I drive my EV there is nothing to stop me from stepping on an imaginary clutch, manipulating an imaginary shift lever, and gleefully shouting, “Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!” Nothing, that is, except my knowledge that to do that would be utterly silly.
But if you paid $5000 for it as an “option” then would you feel more or less silly?
Mr Toad ( Wind in the Willows ) was already there “always somebody else’s horizon! O bliss! O poop-poop! O my! O my!”
Ferrari hasn’t made a manual car since 2012. The number of ICE manuals sold in the U.S. is fewer than 1% across all model lines. Who do these EV makers think their target audience is? R&T and C&D journalists? Makes no sense to me, but I have an ICE manual in the garage, go figure.
We have had an I-Pace in our fleet for almost 3 years. I find the one-pedal action and superb handling a very satisfying driving experience, arguably more engaging than my XK8 I’ve loved to drive for nine years, especially on mountain roads. Reading this article I suspected an April Fools spoof, à la Road & Track.
I think @Jeff has the answer; especially where EV conversions are concerned. I’ve seen one or two of these where the electric motor replaced the ICE powerplant and retained the original manual transmission, but I’ve never understood why more EV-converted enthusiast vehicles didn’t take a similar approach.
I think the part “shift” enthusiasts like, is not really the shifting, but repeatedly wringing out the most from the engine. This is why I also think that simply putting in a real gearbox gives that same feeling even with an EV…you get to run the tach up 4 times! with increasing speed! That’s the excitement…in a normal EV, you only get to do that…once. I also think that is secretly why Porsche chose to put a 2-speed transmission in the Taycan…there is no gimmick, Porsche doesn’t do “extra” weight, they figured the car was a little faster to 60, a little more efficient at 75, and the complexity was easily outmatched by the suspension engineering…BUT it gave the Taycan a little bit of that familiar feel…one quick ka-chunk on a drag race to 60!!! And, it felt good, because the shift was REAL.
Same with the braking…Porsche wisely chose not to use one-pedal driving, instead recognizing that when exercising ultimate control of the vehicle, the throttle (potentiometer?) should coast when “lifting” and the brake pedal is often used at the same time as being deep in the throttle pedal for nuanced cornering control…therefore OPD is inconsistent with having proper (enthusiast) control of a car.
With this type of ethos in mind, and considering the Taycan GT is a record-breaker, and has easily-accessed extreme performance that doesn’t “mimic” Porsche-ness but actually HAS real Porsche-ness…I think the future for enthusiast-oriented EVs could be very rich and exciting. There will be a “soul” that you will be able to find in EVs when total control is given to the driver. Simulation shifting gimmicks can still be fun for “family” cars or “cheap” cars or whatever… but a Macan EV on track with no fake “controls” in the way, is just as fun for a serious “driving enthusiast” as an air-cooled 911, given that you put personal preference of drivetrain aside and only consider “mastering the machine” as the goal…because that is the goal of the designers at Porsche. The Macan will indeed, invite you (beg you?) to discover how fast it is physically capable of going, and be fun while doing so.
If other EV manufacturers can find a market and afford to make sports cars in the future, then there will be a (probably really small, very volatile) selection of real, “enthusiast-friendly” EV sports cars available. They will encourage the driver to connect with the chassis, feel the steering feedback, and learn the nuances of pedal position to traction availability, weight transfer, and braking bias. When you look at it this way, it is clear that speed and control are way more about the chassis and suspension than the kind of drivetrain. It is about the type of control offered to the driver…not the difference between gasoline and electrons. Tacking wheels on a phone makes it possible to masquerade as lots of things it’s not…even if the masquerade is “fun” to some “enthusiasts.”
I think the real reason lots of people like their Teslas is because they were benchmarked against European luxury sedans, and Porsches in particular. A Plaid is a pretty serious “enthusiast” car, and a stock Model 3 is no slouch at an Autocross. Secretly, they actually handle pretty well. Porsche only has a small edge in being able to bring real motorsport legacy into the driving feel of their EVs, and having the advantage of understanding “endurance performance” so their cars don’t overheat or otherwise fail from repeated hot laps and drag launches.
Porsche already knows how to build racing hybrids (GTP) and racing EVs (Formula E), and the new 911 GTS puts the E-motor ahead of the transmission. It will be easy for them to build a platform with a PDK (or manual) and replace the ICE with a motor. I’m sure that it will be designed such that maximum performance will be achieved with gearshifts, while cruising on the highways will be possible with single-speed operation. A true “enthusiast” EV with a real gearbox, offering all the benefits of both.