It’s 2022, and frankly, things are looking grim. There’s plenty of places to look, but let’s go with the manual transmission today.
In the USDM market, the list of cars you can still buy with a manual transmission option is down to a pretty short list: The BMW M3 and M4, Chevy Spark and Camaro, Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing, Dodge Challenger, Ford Bronco and Mustang, Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra and Veloster, Jeep Wrangler, Kia Forte, Mazda 3 and MX-5 Miata, Mini, Mitsubishi Mirage, Nissan Versa, Porsche Boxster/Cayman and 911, Subaru BRZ, Crosstrek, Impreza, and WRX/STI, Toyota GR86, Corolla and Tacoma, Volkswagen Golf GTI and Golf R, and the Volkswagen Jetta.
Let’s break that down: Two musclecars with tradition paired up with two muscle sedans that are taking aim at a couple of well-known Germans. A few sports cars across the whole pricing spectrum, a couple of sporting sedans, two off-road oriented vehicles, and a couple of absolute penalty boxes. Outside of die-hards, the manual transmission is effectively a living fossil to the new market. Only where buyers are absolutely clamoring for them will they remain.
What else is big news for 2022? Electrification. What’s one of the downsides of electrification, once you get past the usual arguments against the subject? That lack of driver involvement. Basically, you treat an EV like you would treat a computer: turn the power on, wait for the computer to get it’s shit together, then start using the programs that get you the results you want. You can drive with the steering wheel and throttle. You can drive with a video game controller, to be quite honest. But you don’t get gears. Electric motors produce a consistent amount of torque at any given RPM within a given range. So, figure out what forward speed you want for the engine at a safe RPM, do some arithmetic, and there you go. There is no need for different gear combinations. That’s for the internal combustion engine that has a certain powerband that requires different sets to help with take-off power through high-speed operation. Is it something to like? Not really. It’s logically sound, at least.
Here is something I don’t find logical. As reported by Carscoops (and found in BZ Forums), Toyota is working on a “manual transmission” setup for an electric vehicle. Here’s an extract from one of the patents regarding operation:
“The electrical vehicle includes a shift lever and a clutch pedal for pseudo-realizing the manual gear change of the MT vehicle…The shift lever is operated by the driver to select an arbitrary virtual gear stage mode from among plurality of virtual gear stage modes…The controller calculates the virtual engine speed of the virtual engine…and displays the virtual engine speed on the display.”
Or, in other words, you get to play a less-fun version of San Francisco Rush 2049 in your electric Toyota vehicle for free.
This doesn’t feel like an attempt to throw gearheads a bone. Not in the least. This feels seriously cynical to me. Have you ever seen an adult hand a toddler a dead phone or tablet so they can play with it and be happy? That’s what this feels like to me. Did you ever pretend to drive somewhere in some derelict car when you were a kid? That had more driver involvement than this condescending gift to those who fondly remember Supras, Celicas, MR2s and other fun Toyotas of the past. “Oh, you miss your stick-shift? Don’t be sad…look here! Now you can go ‘click-click’ and pretend you’re in a real car! Isn’t that fun?”
If you’re going to build EVs, fine, build them. But do us a favor: quit attempting to placate audiences you know aren’t into them with gimmicks that you believe might work. Until you have a legitimate manual transmission, clutch and all, behind an electric motor, don’t bother. Leave simulated manual transmission shifting to video games.
I know it’s not the most popular car here, but I have to say that Toyota really nailed the control and instrumentation with the Prius. The designers understood that the drivetrain wasn’t doing the same things as a conventional drivetrain, and came up with controls that neither carried over features that no longer made sense for what was really going on, while keeping the user experience a lot simpler than other hybrid powertrains such as a diesel-electric locomotive.
The result are controls that actually fit what the vehicle is doing. Anti-theft systems have made keys act more like security dongles than mechanical switches, so you have a plug in security dongle instead of a key. The transmission has no distinct gear ratios and no reason it should be shifted to a lower gear manually, so the shifter is replaced with a three-way switch for forward, off, and reverse. The display shows the power distribution from the hybrid system. The driving experience is built around what’s really happening under the hood.
What Toyota wants to do here is the exact opposite.
Also worth noticing: The manual transmission option on the Golf R is only available in the US and Canada. For once, the US gets a stick shift option and Europe doesn’t.
Manual transmission, still the greatest theft deterrent ever made. Fortunately all my kids can drive every stick we own, all 7 of them. 59’ F600, 85’ C20, 00’ Mustang, 3 Saturn’s, 72’ Datsun p/u. They can keep their electric piles.
I understand what you’re saying…but my concern is different.
This information is listed in a PATENT application.
While fake manual transmission might suck, it might be all we can get, and now Toyota can LIMIT the availability to their crap boxes.
Do I want an EV…no. But a full size EV truck with manual like action will be way easier to swallow than a box with 4 wheels and a seat
Driving simulators are fun and it’s all simulated shifting. I’m not going to knock it until I can try it, although I’d probably prefer just retro fitting an electric motor to an older manual transmission vehicle.
The whole thing is a moot point. An electric motor makes the same torque at 10 rpms or 10,000. Sounds like they are afraid the public will shun them for being boring,
Soon to be followed by Nitrous and TURBO arcade buttons .
Well, that’s flipping fantastic. I taught myself how to drive a manual via a late 80’s arcade game, now it’s possible that that bowling alley income-sucker might become some form of reality? FMR!