Innovation / Toyota: a manual gearbox for electric vehicle

As if to clear this forced passage to electric, Toyota would even go so far as to exceed the reasonable limit to fall into the absurd by simulating a timing. The recorded documentation describes how the management of the electric motor could have the engine “wedged” if the driver forgets to push the clutch pedal when the vehicle stops or if the engine “diet” falls too low compared to the selected ratio and at the speed of the vehicle, like what would happen with a conventional heat engine. Of course, when you will be tired of playing “driving old”, you just have to go back to classic EV mode and only worry about the accelerator and the brake pedal when necessary.

Are there manual electric or hybrid cars ?

Driving an electric or hybrid car the first time can slightly take over motorists who are not used to driving cars with automatic gearboxes. Indeed, the vast majority of cars operating thanks to these engines have automatic gearboxes, to the point that it is possible to wonder if there are only electric and hybrid cars equipped with manual gearboxes. If the answer is yes, there is, in truth, only an extremely limited number.

Why do electric and hybrid cars have electrical gearboxes ?

The operation of electric cars and hybrid cars implies a significant part ofAutomation in terms of speed management, since the electrical traction is different from the thermal traction. In the case of the passages of the electric motorization to the heat engine of hybrid cars, on -board computers are capable of best manage the alternation of engines Depending on the driving situations and the needs that these imply. Finally, in terms of electric cars, the electrical traction is also completely automatically managed, providing certain driving comfort to drivers.

Can electric and hybrid cars have manual gearboxes ?

If the automatic gearboxes seem to be by nature made to be installed in hybrid cars, some manufacturers had previously had Choose to install on their hybrid and hybrid cars rechargeable in manual gearboxes. This is for example the case of the Honda CR-Z, marketed in Europe between 2010 and 2015, and which only the version including a Six speed box was available in France. But from now on, all rechargeable hybrid and hybrid cars are sold with an automatic gearbox.

Concerning the 100% electric cars, the mechanical elements that make up these vehicles as well as their operating mode make Useless the integration of a manual gearbox. And if some models of electric cars have several gear reports on their engine, the management of the passage of these reports is, once again, operated by the electronic devices present in the car, not by the motorist.

Only certain types of very special vehicles, such as all -wheel drive or cars intended for sport competition could justify the integration of a manual gearbox on electric vehicles, which does not meet the majority of needs motorists.

Innovation / Toyota: a manual gearbox for electric vehicle

For a long time closed to the electric car, Toyota is now completely immersed in it and tries to provide an additional soul by laying a patent for manual transmission for electric vehicles.

World leader in the automotive market, undisputed master of the hybrid car, Toyota has long been refractory to wired vehicles, whether rechargeable or exclusively electric hybrid. But times change and the pressure of upcoming standards ever more restrictive requires the Japanese giant to review its copy. This results in a plan which provides for the marketing of 30 electric models by 2030 and some nuggets like this patent filed for a manual transmission for electric cars. But what hides this surprising concept ?

Simulated sensations

The initial question is as follows: what would a gearbox for an electric vehicle ? The answer is simple: intrinsically, nothing or not much. But in fact, if it is of course not a question of associating an exclusively electric motorization with a mechanical transmission with manual control – as is the case for the Opel Manta Elektromod for example – it is above all a question here to find the sensations of a manual transmission to the driving of an electric model.

With this patent, the world’s largest manufacturer plans a purely software approach combined with a physical order. Understand that the engineers of the Japanese manufacturer have imagined a device with a gearbox lever and a clutch pedal unrelated to the electric motor. However, using sensors, these commands would be able to modulate the operation of the electric motor via specific electronic management which would simulate report changes or the clutch primer, the objective being to provide the driver with Sensations obtained with a real mechanical gearbox coupled with a heat engine.

Virtual timing

On the principle, the software would detect the movements of the clutch pedal and the gear lever to modulate the engine thrust and simulate the gear passages, as with a traditional transmission manual transmission using a traditional transmission. But Toyota goes even further by describing in the documents of the patented system the different methods applied to simulate the pressure on the clutch pedal and the resistance of the lever, just to continue the mystification to the end by displaying a tachometer displaying A “virtual engine speed” which varies depending on the request of the engine and the “report changes” or when you activate the clutch.

As if to clear this forced passage to electric, Toyota would even go so far as to exceed the reasonable limit to fall into the absurd by simulating a timing. The recorded documentation describes how the management of the electric motor could have the engine “wedged” if the driver forgets to push the clutch pedal when the vehicle stops or if the engine “diet” falls too low compared to the selected ratio and at the speed of the vehicle, like what would happen with a conventional heat engine. Of course, when you will be tired of playing “driving old”, you just have to go back to classic EV mode and only worry about the accelerator and the brake pedal when necessary.

Update: New patent for a manual gearbox for Toyota hybrid models

Meanwhile, Toyota would have filed a new patent application for manual transmission intended for hybrid models. The concept is similar, but the development is completely different. It is a speed change technology in which the clutch can be controlled either by the driver or by electronics: it is therefore not a clutch by controlled cable via electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics by electronics An actuator, but rather a system that uses a clutch master cylinder with two enslaved cylinders – one by the driver and the other by the electronic control unit (ECU).

This speed change system allows the driver to bypass what the ECU wants to do by pressing the clutch pedal. The computer ensures that the gear change maneuvers take place without hanging and protects the engine in case the driver would forget to press the clutch pedal, but it is the driver who chooses the moment to switch to High speed. The patent already filed with the USPTO (Units State Patent and Trademark Office) in 2021, but which was only published recently, describes this setting as sport mode. On the other hand, the ECU can disconnect the wheel engine if necessary.