Toyota filed eight new patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office last Thursday, that describe a mechanism for drivers who prefer manual gearboxes. The patents offer the co-existence of an EV equipped with the capabilities of a manual transmission.
Toyota’s new EV can even alternate between the “control modes” of standard and manual driving. This is accomplished using an H-pattern manual equipped with “pseudo-clutch” and “pseudo-shifter” inputs.
To get the complete feel of a manual transmission, the car also has a third pedal with a “pedal reaction force generator” that vibrates to simulate the feeling of a clutch dragging on a flywheel and can even mimic the car stalling.
Now, the question arises if this car will have the perks of manual transmission as well? Historically, manual transmissions were significantly more fuel-efficient than automatic versions but that is no longer a concern for EVs.
Manual transmissions were also cheaper to purchase and cheaper to maintain. Toyota is yet to reveal its pricing.
Toyota says its new patented system is designed to “provide an electric vehicle capable of enjoying a driving feeling like an MT vehicle without experiencing the difficulties peculiar to the MT vehicle.” Now it is to be determined if the car will have more control like the manual ones.
Once the car goes into production, these questions will be answered. EV has a strong competition because Ford’s new patent filings have revealed a design for a new type of manual box that only uses hand inputs and doesn’t require a clutch pedal to shift, the EV may have some strong competition.