Photo: Lexus
While Lexus has not made strides toward electrification besides its usual crop of hybrid powertrains, the Japanese carmaker revealed that it’s working on a manual transmission of sorts for its future electric vehicles.
While Lexus’s name sounds like luxury and technology, Toyota made sure it will not leapfrog Tesla in electric vehicles anytime soon. To be sure, Lexus also plans some EVs down the line, but it doesn’t want to stray far from the beaten track. One of the more curious things Toyota announced the other day at its Kenshiki media forum in Brussels is a manual transmission for EV powertrains.
If you are concerned that a geared transmission might compromise an already crippled EV range, as we’ve seen recently with the Toyota bZ4X, fret not: this concept doesn’t have gears. Instead, it’s a software trick to offer EV drivers the same engaging experience a manual transmission does. It can even generate the accompanying sound, as you can hear in the video attached below. And because it works in software, it can be programmed to offer the characteristics of different vehicle types, letting the driver choose their preferred mapping.
This is not much different from the game consoles’ experience, where you use a realistic steering wheel, pedals, and gearshift instead of the standard controller. Lexus goes even further and develops the One Motion Grip steering system the same way. Set to be introduced in the RZ 450e crossovers, it’s a steer-by-wire system, meaning there’s no mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels.
It’s exactly how gaming steering wheels work, with the software (the game in the case of consoles) choosing the right feedback and feel based on the type of vehicle it simulates. Lexus might not be the EV crusader its fans might want, but it sure has a point. With DIRECT4 all-wheel drive system, One Motion Grip steering system, and the simulated stick shift, all software-based, you can drive any car model you want, gamifying the driving experience.
Fancy an F1 single-seater? It’s right there, a couple of menu flicks away. Want to drive a boring 1998 Toyota Prius? Feel free to torment yourself. The number of possibilities is just limitless. And although Lexus implies that the new gadgetry will be introduced in the future production version of the Lexus Electrified Sport concept, in the video below, you see it in action on a research prototype based on the UX 300e compact SUV, equipped with a gear lever and a clutch pedal.
If you are concerned that a geared transmission might compromise an already crippled EV range, as we’ve seen recently with the Toyota bZ4X, fret not: this concept doesn’t have gears. Instead, it’s a software trick to offer EV drivers the same engaging experience a manual transmission does. It can even generate the accompanying sound, as you can hear in the video attached below. And because it works in software, it can be programmed to offer the characteristics of different vehicle types, letting the driver choose their preferred mapping.
This is not much different from the game consoles’ experience, where you use a realistic steering wheel, pedals, and gearshift instead of the standard controller. Lexus goes even further and develops the One Motion Grip steering system the same way. Set to be introduced in the RZ 450e crossovers, it’s a steer-by-wire system, meaning there’s no mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels.
It’s exactly how gaming steering wheels work, with the software (the game in the case of consoles) choosing the right feedback and feel based on the type of vehicle it simulates. Lexus might not be the EV crusader its fans might want, but it sure has a point. With DIRECT4 all-wheel drive system, One Motion Grip steering system, and the simulated stick shift, all software-based, you can drive any car model you want, gamifying the driving experience.
Fancy an F1 single-seater? It’s right there, a couple of menu flicks away. Want to drive a boring 1998 Toyota Prius? Feel free to torment yourself. The number of possibilities is just limitless. And although Lexus implies that the new gadgetry will be introduced in the future production version of the Lexus Electrified Sport concept, in the video below, you see it in action on a research prototype based on the UX 300e compact SUV, equipped with a gear lever and a clutch pedal.
Google News