Quote:
Originally Posted by BenFenner
A manual transmission is my non-negotiable.
There has been at least one production EV with a manual transmission, but it is way too old (1982) to consider, and has other problems. There have been a handful of modern prototypes, but nothing that has been taken seriously.
Of course there are thousands and thousands of them custom made by owners throughout the past ~3 decades, to varying degrees of success...
I'm tired of arguing with people about the benefits of multiple gear ratios for EVs. They provide much better energy efficiency, and performance gains. Electric motors (both AC and DC) are more energy efficient at low RPM but most powerful at a higher RPM. This is the EXACT reason we have multiple ratios for internal combustion engines, and it only makes sense to do the same for EVs.
Porsche figured this out and has 3 gear ratios in their AWD Taycan. The rear axle uses a 2-speed automatic transmission for acceleration, and the front axle provides a 3rd (even taller) ratio for efficiency. Multiple ratios just make sense for EVs in many ways, and if we're going to have them (and we should!) then I insist on rowing my own.
The plug-in hybrid BMWs with pancake motors upstream of the traditional transmission get industry-leading range and efficiency. This is the closest thing we have to a proof of concept but is being ignored because everyone is more excited about self-driving, or bigger iPads on the dash, or in-car ads, or using their smart phone as a key, etc.
So I will be forced to make my own. Odds are I'll convert our 6MT E53. But that's a project for after we build a house and go off-grid solar. And for after I finish the E36/8 and other automotive projects. |
Please don't think BMW invented the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA), Honda did, nearly 30 years ago. The first production hybrid with IMA was Honda's Insight. The Insight did have a manual transmission version of the drivetrain.
That video you posted about a manual transmission EV was a clown show - LOL. Real automotive engineering shows a single-speed EV with regenerative braking solution is more energy efficient than a multi-speed manual EV, which is why all EV use such a setup.
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A manual transmission can be set to "comfort", "sport", and "track" modes simply by the technique and speed at which you shift it; it doesn't need "modes", modes are for manumatics that try to behave like a real 3-pedal manual transmission. If you can money-shift it, it's a manual transmission. "Yeah, but NO ONE puts an automatic trans shift knob on a manual transmission."