Before I got my EV, all my vehicles were manual transmission vehicles except for one truck. That truck’s transmission was such a piece of shit and I had to have it rebuilt 2x while I owned it.
EVs have no transmission (well, I’ve seen some conversions that do but that’s a little different). At first I thought it would be like driving an automatic but it’s really not.
In an automatic, the transmission starts pushing you forward as soon as you let off the brake. In a manual and EVs, when you take your foot off the brake, nothing happens.
In an automatic, there’s not really a good way to decelerate without pressing on the brake. In a manual you can downshift (I know you can kindof downshift in an automatic but it’s really not the same) and in an EV you have the regenerative braking.
Accelerating in an EV is just better than anything because it’s just smooth acceleration right to wherever speed you are going to. Manuals can be fun to shift but I would say that EVs are better in this regard. Automatics still shift, they just shift for you and will often do it at the wrong times and can sometimes feel jerky if trying to accelerate quickly.
Really I think some people are just hesitant to adopt something new, especially if they feel like it’s being forced upon them as some sort of agenda. I think as they drop in price and more people try them, they will like them. Then there’s just the issue of range. I think if someone could get a $20-30k car with 300+mi range, it would be super popular.
My fiat is the same…they really made the transition from ICE to EV extremely minimal, everything feels/act the same.
The thing that gets me is without gears shifting as you accelerate you don’t instinctively know how fast you’re actually going…I feel like if you’ve been driving long enough your brain already has some map built in… like the back of your brain is keeping track and the car shifted 3 times so you’re probably going around x speed. I pull away from a light and can’t help punching it a little bit but by the time I let off and look down I’m going 58 in a 35!
I don’t want to sound like one of those super EV fan boys and I’ve only had mine for 3ish months…but once you drive an EV for a while you start to wonder why haven’t cars always been like this? It makes so much more sense this way! I learned to drive on a manual and always got my cars with manuals so I do miss the engagement/connection to the driving experience but honestly EV is sooo much better (except down shifting into a turn)
Before I got my EV, all my vehicles were manual transmission vehicles except for one truck. That truck’s transmission was such a piece of shit and I had to have it rebuilt 2x while I owned it.
EVs have no transmission (well, I’ve seen some conversions that do but that’s a little different). At first I thought it would be like driving an automatic but it’s really not.
In an automatic, the transmission starts pushing you forward as soon as you let off the brake. In a manual and EVs, when you take your foot off the brake, nothing happens.
In an automatic, there’s not really a good way to decelerate without pressing on the brake. In a manual you can downshift (I know you can kindof downshift in an automatic but it’s really not the same) and in an EV you have the regenerative braking.
Accelerating in an EV is just better than anything because it’s just smooth acceleration right to wherever speed you are going to. Manuals can be fun to shift but I would say that EVs are better in this regard. Automatics still shift, they just shift for you and will often do it at the wrong times and can sometimes feel jerky if trying to accelerate quickly.
Really I think some people are just hesitant to adopt something new, especially if they feel like it’s being forced upon them as some sort of agenda. I think as they drop in price and more people try them, they will like them. Then there’s just the issue of range. I think if someone could get a $20-30k car with 300+mi range, it would be super popular.
That depends on the car’s software - my mother’s Renault Zoe slowly accelerates to about 5 km/h if you take your foot off the brake.
My fiat is the same…they really made the transition from ICE to EV extremely minimal, everything feels/act the same.
The thing that gets me is without gears shifting as you accelerate you don’t instinctively know how fast you’re actually going…I feel like if you’ve been driving long enough your brain already has some map built in… like the back of your brain is keeping track and the car shifted 3 times so you’re probably going around x speed. I pull away from a light and can’t help punching it a little bit but by the time I let off and look down I’m going 58 in a 35!
I don’t want to sound like one of those super EV fan boys and I’ve only had mine for 3ish months…but once you drive an EV for a while you start to wonder why haven’t cars always been like this? It makes so much more sense this way! I learned to drive on a manual and always got my cars with manuals so I do miss the engagement/connection to the driving experience but honestly EV is sooo much better (except down shifting into a turn)
The Taycan has a two speed transmission (for forward gears) but your point still stands for most other EVs.
I saw one recently account starting 35k, with federal rebate making effectively 27.5k and has 260 range. It’s getting there at least.