Toyota would develop a fake manual transmission for electric vehicles
The advent of electric vehicles in greater numbers only seals the fate of manual transmissions. They are rarer than ever and their survival is increasingly threatened with time. Toyota however, has a different view of the matter. According to the filing of multiple patents in the United States, the Japanese manufacturer is working on a fake manual gearbox that would be intended for electric vehicles.
The patents, which were filed over the summer but have come under the spotlight by the BZ forum recently, relate to technology that mimics the operation of a manual transmission and is intended for electric vehicles. .
In a vehicle, probably a sports car, equipped with this dummy gearbox, the driver would have access to a clutch pedal and a conventional transmission lever. However, these would not be connected to a mechanical element as is the case with traditional vehicles. Indeed, the electric vehicle would not be equipped with a real manual gearbox, but rather with a single-speed reduction gear, as is the case with current electric vehicles.
For the driver, each “gear change” would require the same involvement as a traditional car. On the other hand, rather than having a mechanical action, they would generate a calculation carried out by a controller which could stop the delivery of power while the clutch pedal is depressed. Once a gear is engaged, power delivery would be adjusted to mimic the selected gear. To push the simulation a little further, the vehicle would be equipped with a tachometer which displays the engine revolution calculated according to the speed of the vehicle and the gear selected.
Three modes of operation
The patents suggest that Toyota has provided three operating modes for this “arranged with the views guy” manual transmission: a fully manual mode, a mode that eliminates the need to use the clutch pedal, and a fully automatic mode. The story does not say, however, if the fully automatic mode would cause operation similar to that which we know from electric vehicles, i.e. power delivered smoothly and continuously, or if the “gears” would be maintained to mimic a traditional automatic at torque converter.
For now, there is no indication that Toyota intends to include this technology in a production vehicle. Nothing has been announced by the manufacturer. One thing is certain, if it reaches production, it will be a way of perpetuating the manual, whose days are numbered.
