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The manual transmission was well on its way out long before the electric car started its rise, but without the need for transmissions at all, most EVs certainly aren’t helping #savethemanuals. Keyword: “most,” because Lexus says it’s cooking up an electric LFA-inspired supercar that will utilize a faux manual transmission, including a clutch pedal. Chief engineer for the brand’s electric division, Takashi Watanabe, confirmed the news at a recent presentation in Europe, as reported by Motor Authority.
The system will use software instead of an actual clutch to mimic the feel of a manual transmission, providing engine sounds to go along with it, and multiple profiles with different programmed gear ratios. Lexus appears to be attempting to keep it realistic, even programming in behaviours for stalls and rolling back on hills.
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“This new project all started with some Lexus engineers reflecting on what they liked about traditional [internal-combustion] vehicles and what they had to miss out on with electric cars,” Watanabe said. A number of journalists recently got a peek at an example of the faux unit in action within a special E.U.-only UX 300e model. The car lacks the proposed engine sounds and instead features some placeholder noises, but allows the driver to shift up and down gears, in sync with a fake tachometer.
What do you think of manual transmissions in electric vehicles? Are we forsaking the sound and feel of progress in an attempt to placate traditionalists, or is a fake manual better than no manual at all? Let us know in the comments below.
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