Toyota thinks it’s a good idea to put a fake manual transmission in an EV

Love it or hate it, Toyota seems to be moving forward with its plan to add a manual transmission simulation to its electric cars, complete with engine revving noise and lots of jerky feels. A new patent application shows a system with up to 14 pseudo gears to enhance the zero-emissions driving experience and maybe convert some manual-loving drivers over to the EV side.

It’s been a little over a year since we first heard rumors that Toyota was devising a fake manual transmission with a clutch pedal and shifter to pretend you are shifting gears, and apparently, some patents date back to 2017. But lately, Toyota has been back at devising the system, which it dubs a “manual BEV concept.” At the Japan Mobility Show at the end of last month, it debuted a concept version of its Lexus UX 300e that featured the gearbox and clutch, the whole works. Excitement from the trial apparently encouraged the company to take it further.

While outside the vehicle, things run quietly as any typical EV; inside, you are transported to Fast and Furious, with artificial engine noise piped through the speakers to fully replicate the experience of driving an ICE engine. “From the outside, this vehicle is as quiet as any other BEV. But the driver is able to experience all the sensations of a manual transmission vehicle,” said chief engineer of Lexus’s EVs Takashi Watanabe. “This gave us so much fun that the project is now under serious development.”

While the concept had just six gears, Toyota has now taken that up a notch to 14 gears. The patent application, spotted by Moto1.com, shows a system with a full load of imaginary gears – which doubles what you’ll find on a standard manual gearbox. But it’s all part of the fun anyway, and drivers can select how many gears they want if 14 seems too much.

Most EVs just have a single-speed transmission, which can feel a bit flat for lovers of manual transmissions. EVs are way more efficient than ICE vehicles and can deliver full 100% torque after 0 RPM, whereas an ICE engine needs gears with different ratios to transfer that energy from the engine to the wheels at varying speeds. Some EVs from Porsche, Audi, and Jaguar use multispeed transmissions in their vehicles, which have two or more gears to reduce the load on the electric motor at higher speeds and extend driving range.

Fake transmissions certainly aren’t a new concept, with Dodge releasing a feature in its Charger Daytona SRT “Banshee” concept called eRupt transmission. Honda also toyed with the idea of a simulated manual transmission for its future EV lineup, not even the high-performance models, but decided to drop it.

Electrek’s Take

Sure, the idea of a fake gearbox is gimmicky, but there is some argument that this could be a fun element, especially for electric race cars. But isn’t the smooth, quiet ride of an electric vehicle one of its nicer qualities? And besides, while Toyota was a pioneer in hybrids with the Prius, it did not mass-market a single all-electric product until 2020, and that was pretty meh. Not to sound like a schoolmarm, but Toyota may be better off focusing its energy toward something useful and putting the joysticks and toys away. Besides, driving isn’t a video game simulation, so any real-world implications for this seem a bit silly. But again, I haven’t tried it, so I won’t knock it totally until then.