Honda rules out manual transmissions for electric cars – report

Honda’s head of electrification says there are higher priorities than a manual transmission for electric cars.

Japanese car-maker Honda says it has not plans to develop simulated or functional manual transmissions for its upcoming electric cars, even if the technology is viable and available.

With automatic transmissions becoming more efficient and faster than before, demand for manual gearboxes has significantly decreased in recent years – leading some car-makers to discontinue such models.

In 2021, it is estimated just five per cent of Australian new-car buyers opted for vehicles with manual transmissions, compared to nearly 30 per cent two decades prior.

In a roundtable interview reported by US publication Car and Driver, Honda’s global head of electrification, Shinji Aoyama, said the company is capable of producing simulated manual transmissions for its future electric cars, but likely won’t invest in the technology.

“Artificially, we can do it. Mechanically, it is not easy,” Mr Aoyama said, as reported by Car and Driver.

Mr Aoyama does not support the idea of a simulated manual transmission, telling Car and Driver it would be “like an extension of active sound control” before stating Honda is pursuing other ways of making its electric cars fun to drive.

Unlike petrol and diesel cars which use gears to keep their engines within the optimal power range, electric cars produce instant torque and more often than not have one single gear.

Despite this, a handful of car-makers are reportedly interested in developing simulated manual gearboxes – or develop the technology for fun-to-drive electric cars.

As reported in February, Japanese car giant Toyota has filed patents in Japan for a system which includes a faux clutch pedal and gear selector to simulate the feeling of changing gears with a manual transmission.

There have also been a number of electric concept cars equipped with manual transmissions, such as the Opel Manta GSe Elektromod, Ford Mustang Lithium concept and Jeep Wrangler Magneto. 

Both Mr Aoyama and Honda CEO Toshirio Mibe told Car and Driver there are more important aspects of a fun-to-drive electric car than than artificial manual transmissions, such as battery technology, packaging, programming and electric motor advancements.

Soon after he was appointed Honda CEO in April 2021, Mr Mibe announced Honda would end production of petrol and diesel engines globally by 2040, switching to battery and hydrogen fuel-cell electric cars.

Mr Mibe told Car and Driver Honda’s plug-in models need to be “edgy”, adding “I’m not sure if we can replace the manual transmission.”

Despite its reluctance to embrace manual transmissions as a part of its electric future, Honda is the only car-maker to date to offer a manual hybrid car to Australian motorists.

Honda’s CR-Z is the most recent hybrid to be sold with a manual transmission in Australia

Between 2001 and 2004, the Honda Insight was Australia’s first petrol-electric hybrid car, available with either a continuously variable transmission (CVT) or a five-speed manual transmission.

The Insight was followed by Honda’s CR-Z, which was sold with choice of a CVT or six-speed manual transmission, lasting in Australian showrooms between 2011 and 2013 before it was axed globally in 2016.

In August 2020, overseas reports suggested the CR-Z would return after Honda filed the model name with the US Patent and Trademark Office, although no more news has emerged across the past two years.

As of 2022, no cars in Honda Australia’s model line-up are available with a manual transmission, although this is set to change with the upcoming Honda Civic Type R which will not be available with an automatic.

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