Japanese automotive giant Toyota seems to have embarked on a brand new journey in the electric car industry. Because the company made remarkable statements about an electric car that is still in the prototype stage. According to the statement, Toyota is working on a high-performance electric car equipped with a manual transmission, just like today’s cars.
Electric cars do not have a manual transmission. At least in the models released to date. Because of the nature of electric cars, there is no need for such a thing. However, Toyota seems to do something that has not been done so far to establish a throne in the hearts of manual gear enthusiasts.
However, Toyota’s manual transmission feature will be non-functional!
According to the statement made by Toyota President Akio Toyoda, the electric car in question will also have a clutch. In addition, the consumer will hear the sound of the engine inside the vehicle. But all this is basically useless. The only purpose here is to give the driver the feeling of manual transmission. “You don’t really realize you’re driving an electric car.” says Toyoda, stating that the only thing missing is the smell of gasoline.
Toyota is not far from the “fake manual transmission” business!
To be frank, Toyota’s plans are not impossible. Because the company has been working on fake manual transmission cars for a long time. In fact, a fake manual transmission system was tested in the UX 300e of Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus. The driver drives the car like a manual gearbox with this system. However, this whole process is actually simulated with a special algorithm.
Let’s not go without mentioning this: Toyota has not made a new electric car announcement recently. However, the company announced 16 electric cars a year ago. The sports car whose photo we shared above was one of them. Akio Toyoda stated that the fake manual transmission vehicle was developed by Gazoo Racing, Toyota’s motorsport division. This statement suggests that the manual transmission electric car may be a racing-oriented sports model. However, it is difficult to predict without a definite announcement…