Ford Patents A Manual Gear Shifter For EVs
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Have you driven a manual transmission car? I don't think you have
Tbf most Americans at least can't. The only people who even learn nowadays seek it out.
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This is all about driver engagement, something that EVs frankly aren't as good at when compared to something like a Miata, or even an old pickup truck with a miles-long gear lever sticking up from the floor.
Manual for gas engines makes sense because it gives more control over the power band, which doesn't apply to EVs. How would making it clunkier at a detriment to performance make it more engaging?
The delay between the bursts of acceleration when shifting gears give the driver an anticipatory boost of adrenaline each shift. Clunking or slamming into gear is very tactile and feels good.
And you could simulate that with am EV if you wanted. It would be pretty silly since it would just be for fun. But I do still fondly remember abusing the shit out of my manual Geo Metro...
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Ford's EV shifter doesn't mindlessly go through the motions. Small motors are built into the base that provide force feedback through the lever. It can vibrate the stick like a lumpy 6.2-liter V-8 Camaro, and when you move between the "gears" it provides some notchy resistance
Ah, yes. The lumpy old Ford Camaro. Very good. Very good.
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Not OP but I haven't. Correct me if I'm wrong but there are no gears to shift, so what's the point?
The feel of driving manual is more visceral and enjoyable to car enthusiasts. If that's not you, there's no point.
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Not OP but I haven't. Correct me if I'm wrong but there are no gears to shift, so what's the point?
It's more like one "gear." If they add more gears then you have gears to shift, the transmission just changes the ratio of engine or I guess motor in this case rpm to wheel rpm. I guess there's no practical purpose to it when modern electric motors generate tons of power at ludicrous rpm compared to a combustion engine, but the idea is the same. Some old electric cars had manuals, they just can't stall.
As someone who drives a manual I just think its fun, and tbh manufactures have decided that that's the only reason people want one so i read it as ford is trying to make an electric car that car enthusiasts will think is fun to drive.
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This is all about driver engagement, something that EVs frankly aren't as good at when compared to something like a Miata, or even an old pickup truck with a miles-long gear lever sticking up from the floor.
Manual for gas engines makes sense because it gives more control over the power band, which doesn't apply to EVs. How would making it clunkier at a detriment to performance make it more engaging?
It’s fun to drive a manual. It’s very engaging in the literal sense of the word; in order to do it well you have to stay constantly involved and pay attention.
It used to be that there were other benefit to manual transmissions — you could get your fun engagement and also say you were getting better performance or saving gas or saving money. In these modern days though if you still buy a manual you’re pretty much only doing it for the fun factor.
I guess putting a manual imitation mode on an EV is just the same — fun factor only for nerds who like that. Though how they can take themselves seriously with no clutch pedal to botch the shift I don’t know.
Me personally I want to see them take that all the way — give me a Ford Model A mode with manual choke, and carb adjustments on the steering wheel! Give me a manual timing advance! Let me know how my forefathers felt while driving!
I started this post as a mockery but now I actually want that hm..
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Electric race cars have gears. Torque/acceleration vs top speed. There is a small efficiency boost for a regular car go go at high rpm and low load, but it also can have a noise disadvantage. A more powerful motor will outperform a transmission at lower expense, but transmission can get up a crazy hill or significantly improve 0-100kph time.
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When we eventually do get real self-driving cars, some of them will come with force-feedback steering wheels that give the illusion of driving.
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Have you driven a manual transmission car? I don't think you have
I think you’re missing the point. Manual transmission vehicles are engaging because you are in control and select the gear best suited for your needs at any given point during a drive. Putting a fake stick shift in an electric car that doesn’t have any gears doesn’t do anything for driver engagement because it’s completely useless
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It’s fun to drive a manual. It’s very engaging in the literal sense of the word; in order to do it well you have to stay constantly involved and pay attention.
It used to be that there were other benefit to manual transmissions — you could get your fun engagement and also say you were getting better performance or saving gas or saving money. In these modern days though if you still buy a manual you’re pretty much only doing it for the fun factor.
I guess putting a manual imitation mode on an EV is just the same — fun factor only for nerds who like that. Though how they can take themselves seriously with no clutch pedal to botch the shift I don’t know.
Me personally I want to see them take that all the way — give me a Ford Model A mode with manual choke, and carb adjustments on the steering wheel! Give me a manual timing advance! Let me know how my forefathers felt while driving!
I started this post as a mockery but now I actually want that hm..
This isn't with a clutch or shifting between power bands though, it is just flipper paddles making sounds and vibrations that don't actually have anything to do with how the vehicle power works. Like using paddles on an automatic, but without the benefits.
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The delay between the bursts of acceleration when shifting gears give the driver an anticipatory boost of adrenaline each shift. Clunking or slamming into gear is very tactile and feels good.
And you could simulate that with am EV if you wanted. It would be pretty silly since it would just be for fun. But I do still fondly remember abusing the shit out of my manual Geo Metro...
The delay between the bursts of acceleration when shifting gears give the driver an anticipatory boost of adrenaline each shift. Clunking or slamming into gear is very tactile and feels good.
With a clutch, yeah changing gears is pretty cool. Flipper paddles on an automatic isn't like that at all though, which is what this EV shifting thing sounds like.
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Tbf most Americans at least can't. The only people who even learn nowadays seek it out.
I'll have you know I've owned a manual car since 1999. Sometimes by choice
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This isn't with a clutch or shifting between power bands though, it is just flipper paddles making sounds and vibrations that don't actually have anything to do with how the vehicle power works. Like using paddles on an automatic, but without the benefits.
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No impact on the driving at all? That seems pointless and also not worth a patent. I confess I didn’t read the article; I was thinking of this older article about a Lexus prototype
At best it is a negative impact!
In other words, as you row the stick fore and aft, signals are sent to alter the output from the vehicle's motor (or motors), mimicking the shifts of a standard transmission. Presumably, that makes your EV slower since output is interrupted, but again, that's not the point.
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At best it is a negative impact!
In other words, as you row the stick fore and aft, signals are sent to alter the output from the vehicle's motor (or motors), mimicking the shifts of a standard transmission. Presumably, that makes your EV slower since output is interrupted, but again, that's not the point.
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I'll have you know I've owned a manual car since 1999. Sometimes by choice
Hey I drive one too, or at least I will again once I fix my civic. Or sell it. Idk yet, next car will be a stick though.
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The delay between the bursts of acceleration when shifting gears give the driver an anticipatory boost of adrenaline each shift. Clunking or slamming into gear is very tactile and feels good.
And you could simulate that with am EV if you wanted. It would be pretty silly since it would just be for fun. But I do still fondly remember abusing the shit out of my manual Geo Metro...
my manual Geo Metro...
Yo, my family had a Geo Metro when I was growing up! Such a good little car.
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This is all about driver engagement, something that EVs frankly aren't as good at when compared to something like a Miata, or even an old pickup truck with a miles-long gear lever sticking up from the floor.
Manual for gas engines makes sense because it gives more control over the power band, which doesn't apply to EVs. How would making it clunkier at a detriment to performance make it more engaging?
How would making it clunkier at a detriment to performance make it more engaging?
Hyundai's Ioniq 5 N has gotten widespread praise for its simulated flappy-paddle gearbox. Not quite the same as a clutch + stick, but if they impressed so many auto journalists by simulating an automatic ICE transmission, it's definitely possible for this described system to be even more fun than that.
Driving manual cars is just plain more fun even if it's significantly slower.
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Hyundai already did it with the Ioniq 5 N, and I'm really eager to try it out someday.
I've heard both Doug Demuro and Matt Farah say that Porsche and everyone else making sporty EVs should be doing what Hyundai did, because it's apparently actually that good.
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The delay between the bursts of acceleration when shifting gears give the driver an anticipatory boost of adrenaline each shift. Clunking or slamming into gear is very tactile and feels good.
With a clutch, yeah changing gears is pretty cool. Flipper paddles on an automatic isn't like that at all though, which is what this EV shifting thing sounds like.
Yeah, to do it right would involve a lot of silly unnecessary stuff (like a stick shifter) just to make it feel good.
