Toyota has been in there EV game for a while, and what that means is that they are often ahead of the curve when it comes to EV tech.
The future of electro-mobility is looking bright with manufacturers like BMW, VW Group and indeed Toyota at the forefront of EV development. It would seem, however, that Toyota has something a little more retro in store for us…
A recent patent filing by Toyota details a clutch-operated manual transmission to feature in an electric vehicle, an interesting direction for the Japanese automaker when one considers that the transmission in EV’s barely features, Tesla’s using a 1-speed transmission and Porsche and Audi making use of a 2-speed unit, optimised for better response at lower speeds and increased efficiency at higher speeds. Aside from these, however, transmissions just don’t really have a place in modern EV’s.
In Toyota’s patent, they outline a traditional clutch-activated manual transmission with a traditional manual gear selector. They go on to explain, “The controller of the electric vehicle is configured to control the torque of the electric motor using the MT vehicle model based on the operation amount of the accelerator pedal, the operation amount of the pseudo-clutch pedal, and the shift position of the pseudo-shifter.”
The use of the word ‘pseudo’ Is interesting, perhaps suggesting that neither the clutch pedal nor the gear selector are in fact attached to anything, but rather there for nothing more than fun. The Japanese motor-giant goes on to add, “The electric vehicle also includes a shift reaction force generator that generates a shift reaction force in response to the operation of the pseudo-shifter using by the operating of the reaction force actuator.”
What this essentially translates to is that Toyota EV’s may have a simulated manual transmission which simulates the feeling of inertia and the back and forth motion associated with changing gears. Is there an exact purpose to this? Likely not, but it seems like a lot of fun, something which Toyota seem to be keen on providing its customers with of late.
Keyword: Toyota files a patent for a manual transmission for EV’s