Car enthusiasts have long griped that electric cars\u2014silent, relatively similar to one another and, ultimately, soulless\u2014kill all the fun parts of driving. They have a point: EVs typically have one gear, so there\u2019s no opportunity to shift. Flooring it, even in a face-meltingly quick EV, doesn\u2019t produce the kind of visceral vibrations and rumbles one gets from, say, a beefy V8.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In response, some carmakers are copying the most entertaining elements of conventional cars and pasting them into their latest electric models. But BMW says it isn\u2019t all that interested in putting artificial transmissions or phony engine growls in its future EVs.<\/p>\n
At a recent roundtable with journalists, we asked Frank Weber, BMW\u2019s CTO, whether his engineers are working on simulated gearboxes for electric cars. Hyundai, Toyota and others are experimenting with this kind of mimicry\u2014something that isn\u2019t strictly necessary in an EV but could help jazz up the driving experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Weber laughed off the idea: \u201cYeah, we can maybe emulate a stick also, a digital stick,\u201d he joked. BMW\u2019s tech boss added that the company has bigger fish to fry when it comes to the driving experience in its next-generation EVs. BMW wants to harness the advantages of electric technology by developing systems that control a vehicle\u2019s wheels, motors and chassis all at once, he said. That\u2019s the priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo emulate that you have fixed gears and you shift them probably we can do in the afternoon after we\u2019re done with the other things,\u201d he said. \u201cYou will be surprised how different vehicles drive when you see the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weber jokes, but other car companies are dead serious about consoling die-hard car enthusiasts through the extinction of their beloved gas engines. Toyota developed a stick shift for EVs that you can actually stall out. Drivers of Hyundai\u2019s Ioniq 5 N can experience the jolting feeling of gear shifts and even select from a menu of engine grumbles to wake the neighbors with. Dodge, the brand synonymous with thundering V8 muscle cars, put a transmission and an absurdly loud \u201cexhaust\u201d in a recent electric concept car.\u00a0<\/p>\n