Electric cars and the stick shift have yet to cross paths; every single EV sold new in America is automatic, most using a single reduction gear. Toyota is betting that some drivers will want to continue rowing their own gears as they go electric, and it has invented a system that simulates a manual transmission.
Spotted by Motor1, the patent application was filed in Japan in August 2020 and published in the United States in February 2022. It describes a technology that relies largely on software to make drivers feel like they're shifting a manual transmission; the system includes a "pseudo-clutch pedal" and a "pseudo-shifter," among other components. In short, the software is programmed to control the electric motor's torque output in a way that mimics driving a combustion engine. First is short, second is longer, third is as well, and so on. The computer analyzes data like the car's speed and the accelerator pedal's opening angle to make the experience more realistic, according to Toyota.
Engineers included a shift reaction force generator that adds feel to the shifter, otherwise operating it presumably wouldn't be much different than pressing a window switch. There's no word yet on how many "gears" the system has, though the patent application notes that drivers can select different shift patterns, and there's even a reverse lock like on many cars equipped with a manual transmission. As for the clutch pedal, it works just like in the 1990 Corolla you drove in college: it needs to be pushed in before a gear is engaged or disengaged.
It will be interesting to see where Toyota takes this technology (keep in mind that a patent filing is never a guarantee that the feature it describes will reach production) and whether there will be any demand for it. And, while it's too early to tell which car(s) this system could end up in, Toyota has a lot to choose from: it's planning on releasing at least 30 battery-powered models by 2030, including a sports car.
Several factors explain why no one has launched an electric car with a manual transmission: demand for stick-shifted cars is tiny at best in America (and dropping annually), and most EVs are equipped with a single-speed transmission that doesn't need to be shifted. However, Ford tried to lure manual enthusiasts into the fold when it unveiled the Mustang-based Lithium concept at the 2019 edition of the SEMA show. The design study was powered by a 900-horsepower electric drivetrain linked to a six-speed manual transmission — a real one, too.
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