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Lexus Is Developing a 'Manual Transmission' for High-Performance EVs. |
Every New Car You Can Still Buy with a Manual Transmission - Lexus Information
The company is looking at adding the analog driver experience back to the electric vehicle equation. The manual transmission was high on the list. Then Lexus engineers fitted a gearshift, a clutch pedal, and a tachometer. He added that it might actually make it to future-production Lexus EVs.
In a short video, Lexus demonstrated the system. You can hear a simulated engine sound rise and fall with the tachometer. But the driver is able to experience all the sensations of a manual transmission vehicle.
It is a software-based system, so it can be programmed to reproduce the driving experience of different vehicle types, letting the driver choose their preferred mapping. Look closely, and you can see the control Lexus has added to access the different drive modes. As Watanabe said, more are possible. Imagine a future EV that felt like the horsepower 4. But Watanabe said that you will roll back on a hill start. You can even stall the EV — a truly impressive bit of tech.
The idea of it is quite interesting, and, frankly, it sounds like fun. Lexus has more tech plans in store for its upcoming performance EVs. One of those is a steer-by-wire system called One Motion Grip. Planned to launch with the RZ e, it will get rid of the need for hand-over-hand turning when parking or making tight maneuvers.
But it will do it without becoming overly touchy on the highway — a problem suffered by ultra-quick steering ratios. This is then combined with clever software and sound generators within the cabin to create a complete experience. Lexus is developing a manual transmission for electric cars, and here's a first look at a working prototype. Is this the future of the driver's car? At the moment, they sit at bookends of the car market, with Hyundai using the technology on its i20 supermini although not the i20 N and Koenigsegg using its own system on the complex multi-clutch transmission it debuted on the CC supercar.
This system recreates the feel of a mechanically-linked clutch pedal through a haptic driver in the pedal itself, much like motors attached to contemporary electric steering systems. What about the boosty build of a 2JZ-GTE twin-turbocharged straight-six from an A80 Supra RZ — it can all be recreated through the virtual transmission, precise torque mapping and sound generators. But the driver is able to experience all the sensations of a manual transmission vehicle.
It is a software-based system, so it can be programmed to reproduce the driving experience of different vehicle types, letting the driver choose their preferred mapping.
Lexus has already built a working prototype based on the electric Lexus UXe crossover, to which it has mapped in the engine and transmission feel of a petrol engine. It even fitted a prototype rev-counter. The sound being created from this sort of system is bound to only get better too, as other factors like vibrations through the cabin could be recreated by motors in the seats. Of course, there is a mountain of data capturing and calibration work still to complete, but this type of development opens up all sorts of possibilities for future applications.
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