Lexus is working on an electric car with a manual transmission

Lexus is currently working on a prototype electric car that is able to simulate the effects of a manual transmission (MT).

The vehicle in question, an experimental version of the Lexus UX 300e crossover, was recently shown to a group of motoring journalists in Europe, according to MyBroadBand.

The UX appears to be the fruit of parent company Toyota’s efforts to keep the MT car alive in the age of electric transport, as earlier this year the automaker filed as many as eight patents for different aspects of a manual EV design.

Keeping the manual alive

Manual gearboxes have been on the decline for years as buyers have made the shift to automatics, which offer a much simpler driving experience, especially in heavy traffic.

While MTs are still fairly common in South Africa due to their affordability, autos have become the norm in many other countries such as the UK, where AT sales surpassed manuals for the first time in 2019, or the United States, where MTs are now less than 2% of the entire vehicle fleet.

The transition to electric vehicles is set to accelerate this process even further, as EVs don’t have a traditional gearbox like those found in combustion engines.

The simplified nature of an EV’s electric motor means there is no need for conventional gears, as the motor should be able to deliver sufficient torque in a specific range, regardless of its rotation speed.

As a result, EVs will offer your standard drive, neutral and reverse settings, but once the car is in motion, no further inputs are required from the driver aside from acceleration.

The system proposed by Toyota would allow users to switch between a manual shift and a more conventional EV transmission, similar to how certain automatics allow drivers to assume control using a feature like paddle shifters.

The Japanese carmaker’s solution for EVs is to have a transmission system that simulates the feel of a clutch and gear shift through software and engine rev sounds.

There’s a short video from Evo Magazine showing the prototype gearshift in action.

Lexus is developing a manual transmission for electric cars, and here's a first look at a working prototype. Is this the future of the driver's car? https://t.co/sUIaspEpeO pic.twitter.com/aaTUBz6qGg

— evo magazine (@evomagazine) December 5, 2022

The Lexus UX 300e is currently under study for a possible South African release, though if it does make its way here it is highly unlikely that the experimental transmission will debut alongside it.