I'm stuck on this personally. I love my manual, I have a tiny little Mazda 2 and I have driven that thing absolutely everywhere because I can control it better than any automatic I've ever driven. But I've been casually looking for a new car and I'd love to have an electric, but I don't want to lose that level of control and everything I love about a manual.

What do you all think? What's your take?

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Electric > manual > automatic.

Manual's only advantage over automatic is better control over shifting for staying in the power band or downshifting for long slopes. A proper CVT electric can always have the optimal power band for the speed and regenerative braking takes care of the long slopes.

[–] Gordon 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I've never seen an electric car that used a CVT, normally they are just direct drive. Like the motor spins a reduction gearbox, which is directly connected to the wheels. There is only one gear, not even a reverse, the motor just spins backwards to move the car backwards.

That is also why smaller electric cars typically top out around 80-120mph, and you need a very powerful one to go 150+ like a Tesla.

The issue is that at low speed the motor has to spin very slowly which requires immense torque. This is generally overcome with a reduction ratio. The less reduction the faster you can go, but if your motor is not powerful enough then you won't have enough torque on the steepest hills etc.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

I’ve never seen an electric car that used a CVT, normally they are just direct drive.

Potato, potato.