Of all companies, Toyota just might be the one to save the manuals. The future may look bleak for many enthusiast-oriented automotive technologies, but Toyota has just revealed that it is indeed working on a manual transmission for an upcoming sports car flagship. Perhaps even crazier, it’s actually Lexus that’s working on it, even though the division hasn’t made a stick shift car in 10 years.
Since February there have been rumors about Toyota’s manual transmission for electric vehicles, thanks to an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Many patents never even make it off the paper they’re sketched on, so it would have been totally understandable if you bet against it seeing the light of day. But Toyota kept quiet about it until yesterday.
It seems they’ve been working on the electric stick since at least 2020, according to Japanese patent office filings. “This new project all started with some Lexus engineers reflecting on what they liked about traditional [internal combustion] vehicles and what they had to miss out on with electric cars,” said Takashi Watanabe, chief engineer of Lexus Electrified. “[The] manual transmission was one thing they enjoyed in particular.”
The system consists of a shifter, clutch pedal, and tachometer. Of course, there’s no actual gearbox or clutch. Watanabe calls it a “simulated drive force map with pedal and shift positions to reproduce the feeling of a manual transmission.” In other words, it’s all software.
However, the system is apparently so realistic it even replicates the possibility of stalling or rolling back on a hill start. An accompanying video with the system installed on a Lexus UX300e shows the driver wielding the shifter like a real 5-speed (see it in action here at 13:27 in the video titled “Lexus Deep Dive”). The handheld camera even jerks when he shifts. And because it’s all programming, drivers can adjust their own “gear” ratios without cracking open a transmission case.
Watanabe closed his presentation with a ray of hope: The manual is being developed for the production version of the Lexus Electrified Concept, and possibly other models. The flagship is said to go from 0-100 kph in around two seconds and looks like it might share a platform with a Mazda RX-Vision road car. “I cannot tell you when we will be launching a production vehicle based on the Electrified Sport but I can confirm that we are working on it,” Watanabe said.”This is not just a design concept. It is meant to become reality.”
Oh, what a feeling! Toyota!
I feel like mapping load and matching power to the equivalent of an ICE engine has some merit, but in the end isn’t this the same as going on a virtual date, or playing a video game? One thing I miss for certain is the feeling of physical resistance of a cable throttle. It goes back to the same scenario of yeah the electric is faster, superior etc but lacks visceral feeling. To compound this, engineers have to add in the resistance which they probably consider a technical flaw, but is what the people crave in an eternal animalistic nature. If you remove that we’re just one more step closer to transhumanism, tragic.
…that feeling will last until a computer chip, relay or connection eatsa bigga banana and, then try to shift. Real fun.
I may not go out looking to buy a new Toyota ever, but damn am I happy that they’ve been raising the bar and waking up the automotive industry. Things have been boring for waaay too long. Somebody needed to stimulate the competition. It’s really nice to be excited about new models. My only Toyota was an ’82 Cressida and I loved that thing, what a comfy cruiser.
Look forward to seeing what comes of this
This may be the most idiotic thing since artificial engine noise piped in via the car’s speakers.
I betcha a million dollars that everyone will treat it like a DSG/PDK transmission. They’ll just put it into D, and motor on.
Audi pioneered the consumer DSG, yet no one manually moves through the gears.
I wonder why Toyota is even spending money on this when they ditched the manuals for the Corolla since no one was buying them.