Toyota patents manual transmission for EVs: What do they have in mind?

When we thought that the dream to save manuals in the time of electric vehicles was on its deathbed, we have found ourselves with a ray of hope. Recently it was revealed that the Japanese automaker Toyota has filed a number of patents that suggest the carmaker has plans to integrate a manual transmission in electric vehicles.

The eagle-eyed folks at BZforums.com were the first to spot these bizarre patents filed by the Toyota Motor Corporation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Also read: Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric car: New TVC released

According to the patents, the Japanese carmaker is working on a system that may stimulate the sensation of driving a manual transmission car in an EV with the use of various pseudo components.

Under the patent 20220041155A1 the company’s EV manual transmission can be described as a controller which will be able to able to switch between control modes of regular driving and a simulated H-pattern manual. The patent description also mentioned, “simulating a shift reaction force when the driver is using the car’s “shifter” additionally it also said, that it 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.”

Unlike an internal combustion engine equipped with a manual transmission, the Toyota’s EV manual will only provide a feeling of a manual gearbox rather than having any purpose in the operation of the vehicle. The vehicle according to the files will come equipped with a “pseudo-clutch pedal” and “pseudo-shifter,” and these pedals will come with a “shift response force generator” to simulate the sensation of a clutch dragging on a flywheel when partially disengaged. The torque characteristics with regard to the rotational speed of the electric motor in the vehicle will change progressively depending on the shifter position that corresponds to an arbitrary virtual gear. A controller will also compute the virtual engine speed based on the virtual gear selected, which will be shown on a tachometer.

As of now, there is no concrete information on whether Toyota will be developing this system for its upcoming EVs or not but we can be hopeful. In other news, the Japanese automaker along with its luxury division, Lexus, presented a bunch of new electric vehicles that could become a part of its line-up by 2030.

The company in India also recently announced its collaboration with the nations biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki for the development of new mid-size electric SUVs. These new SUVs will be competing with the current EV champion of India – Tata Nexox EV and will be based on a Skateboard platform. This type of platform places the four wheels on the corners of the SUV and helps in opening up a lot of space for the batteries as well as the interior.

Also read: Tata Nexon price increased; Diesel variants discontinued