Simulated gearshifts for performance EVs are a good thing. Anyone who disagrees has either never driven a car with the tech or simply doesn’t enjoy driving. It’s the main reason why the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is my favorite electric car right now. It might not be real, but it feels real. And from behind the wheel, that’s all that matters. Porsche, a longtime opponent of using fake gearshifts in its EVs, is finally coming around to the idea.
As a refresher, Porsche’s stance on fake gearshifts has, for the past two years, been credited to a 2024 interview given by Lars Kern, one of the company’s most senior development drivers, to Australian site drive.com.au. In that interview, Kern crushed my dreams of ever driving a 911-shaped EV with simulated PDK gearshifts.
Here’s what he said:
The electric engine is better than an ICE [internal combustion engine], so we figured there’s no reason to simulate what has been in the past.
We looked at it, but … I don’t see the point of using it to make it feel like a combustion engine because it’s not, so we don’t.
Pretty cut and dry, right? Porsche’s been mum on the idea since, so I always assumed we’d never see paddle shifters in a Stuttgart-developed electric car. But as it turns out, the company’s been hard at work developing its own “virtual gear shift” system. It’s even gone as far as building a working Cayenne EV prototype with the tech.
Source: Porsche
Sascha Niesen, the fleet director for Porsche’s prototypes, confirmed the existence of such a vehicle to The Drive, telling the publication it was developed by the same engineers responsible for the company’s dual-clutch and torque converter automatic transmissions.
I drove a concept vehicle in March. I wanted to hate it because it’s artificial and it’s fake and everything. I was afraid that the people that are doing it are just software geeks who have no idea how a transmission works and try to emulate it. [T]he [engineers] know what they’re doing. They were able to make it feel like a proper torque converter gearbox. I could not tell the difference.
Instead of using noises inspired by internal combustion engines, as with the Hyundai, Porsche’s system uses real, pre-recorded V8 engine sounds from the ICE-powered Cayenne. So in practice, driving a Cayenne EV with the tech should mirror the experience you’d have in, say, a Cayenne GTS or a Cayenne Turbo, right down to the silly exhaust farts with each downshift.
Source: Porsche
Whether the system will make it to production is another story. Niesen admitted to The Drive that it’s not as simple as delivering an over-the-air software update. The Cayenne EV was never designed to have paddle shifters, so there’s no hardware to pair to the tech. But the demand exists, at least from some customers.
That’s key. You’ve got to give the customer the option to be more engaged, but in an EV, it cannot be mandatory. From an engineering perspective, it doesn’t make any sense to introduce a gear shift. But then again, you have continuously variable transmissions that did introduce gear shifts because it felt more natural. You didn’t need it.
Conceptually, Porsche is finally on the right path. When these fake gearshifts arrive on the long-awaited 718 EV, I can finally rest.
[Writer’s note: As corny as fake gearshifts sound, they definitely have a place in electric performance cars, especially ones expected to see some track time. You’ll hear people call a bend a “second-gear corner” or a “third-gear corner” and having that reference point helps with orientation at a trackday. Also, everything’s kinda digital in most new cars anyway. Piped-in audio, strategically programmed drift modes, even clutch delay valves and anti-stall drive-by-wire mapping on new manual cars. As long as the sensation feels real, what’s the difference between an isolated and gadget-laden automatic ICE car and an EV that simulates its shifts? For now, I’m just glad to see that Porsche seems to have found the light. Remember the revolt when the 991.1 GT3 went PDK-only? –TH]
Top photo: Porsche
“Simulated gearshifts for performance EVs are a good thing. Anyone who disagrees has either never driven a car with the tech or simply doesn’t enjoy driving.”
I am stunned that this guy had the balls to actually type those words…
They need to gamify it and give you a score after every hard acceleration, then your car can upload them to a server. There could be leader-boards for specific stretches of road.
You know, I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss.
Package the fake gearshifts on the 718 with the soundtrack of an air-cooled 911.
Good enough for the Crusin’ USA that was at the Sony Theaters on rt. 22 in 1996, good enough for me!
Just stay home and get fake paddles or a shifter on your Playstation. This is silly. You’re not “engaged,” you’re play-acting, or doing useless busy work.
But don’t stop there. Why not add in a hand crank that you need to turn at the front? It won’t actually crank anything but spinning it starts the car. Or how about a choke control? You can be forced to pull it out and slowly move it in as the car “warms up” or it will “stall out.” Maybe some hand cranks you can be forced to spin to roll down the windows?
Hard no from me. I daily a Model Y. Having uninterrupted acceleration is awesome! Map the throttle properly so speed can be modulated on demand with single pedal driving.
Yup I now daily a Polestar 2 never once have I said this would be great with fake gear shifts. Now if it was an actual EV motor hooked up to an actual manual trans that would be cool.
IIRC that’s how people convert old Bugs and MG’s to electric. Hook the electric motor to the existing transmission.
Or you can just drive an actually analog car and ignore this digital bullshit.
This ain’t it
One other thought: when CVTs and EVs were hitting the market, reviewers marveled at acceleration without gear shifts. Then, once that became common, we’re marveling at CVTs and EVs that act like ICE cars (fake engine and all!).
I think we have a tendency to confuse novel for better.
It all feels a bit like using a diffuser to make the cabin smell like burnt oil or having the stereo play the sound of horseshoes hitting cobblestones. (Or have cell phones produce a dial tone etc etc)
Are manufacturers still programming EVs to “creep” forward when lifting off the brake from a stop?
I know no one would call that “fun,” but it’s the same issue: do we want EVs to feel the same as ICE cars or keep them honest?
“Simulated gearshifts for performance EVs are a good thing. Anyone who disagrees has either never driven a car with the tech or simply doesn’t enjoy driving”
I will channel my inner Carl Sagan and say that an extraordinary claim like that requires extraordinary evidence. I am highly skeptical fake gearshifts and synthetic ICE sounds are the keys to making EVs fun. I will admit I haven’t driven a vehicle with either feature so there is an outside chance I could be convinced – I am always open to changing my mind if presented with the right evidence.
I am of the view that EVs can be fun in their own way. I owned a Harley-Davidson Livewire for several years and can say that bike was very engaging without any faux ICE nonsense. The thing I liked most about the bike was instant, consistent torque at all times. The fact I was never out of gear allowed me to focus on other aspects of riding. I have also driven few performance Tesla products and found the consistent, uninterrupted torque to be a positive. I don’t think EVs have to be boring, as long as they are designed to maximize their positive attributes instead of trying to hide their weaknesses.
“As long as the sensation feels real, what’s the difference between an isolated and gadget-laden automatic ICE car and an EV that simulates its shifts?”
I don’t find this persuasive. Gadget-laden automatic ICE vehicles still have a power band that requires shifting (either commanded by machine or driver) to use that power effectively. EVs do not have this limitation, at least to anywhere near the same degree as ICE vehicles. I could see maybe see a role for actual gears in EVs, but I am even skeptical of that.
If Porsche thinks fake gear shifts and synthetic V8 sounds are the key to fun, they have run out of good ideas.
I am a die hard “save the manuals” person that has two 3-pedal cars and also has an ev and this is dumb as fuck.