Stick shift drivers - would you get an electric vehicle?

If an electric vehicle:

Wasn't an SUV or CUV
Didn't have a giant touchscreen with a Big Brother OS
Didn't cost over $40,000 for a good one

I'd buy one. As it stands I'm buying a used GTI tomorrow, mainly because it's a stick shift and I miss that, and also because my GF got a job and needs to use my other car to commute. It's basically the car I've wanted since I was sixteen so I'm pretty stoked.

31

We have a 2013 Leaf. Cost us $8k seven years ago, battery's as good as it ever was, great around town or commuter for a 50 mile round trip commute (longer without defrost the whole way). Seriously the most fun car I've driven since our old manual bmw. The newer ones have bigger batteries if you drive more each day.

9
Used Polestar 2 fits except for the screen.

They might do well with a “classic” version with less tech inside.

3
- Can I get one for under $12k. Because that’s what I’m getting my GTI for.
  
  -1

Having owned a manual for a long time and also a bunch of different automatic cars but never an electric and also having been an enthusiast and participating in motorsports. I would honestly prefer taking a train and riding a bike than driving. I hate driving on the road. I hate other drivers and having to pay attention while I go somewhere. I hate driving long distances and l hate dealing with car issues and I used to be a mechanic for awhile. The whole thing is stupid as hell. I like driving go-carts, that's fun. Cars are dumb as hell.

22

I wish my town (typical mid-size USA) was safer for bicycling. I'd actually get my bike out and use it for short trips for beer or whatever.

For now I walk or drive and I feel shitty every time I drive short distances

4
- Just open carry an Ar-15 on your back. People will go around. But seriously, you can get a Garmin radar thing that will tell you if cars are behind you and how fast they are going.
  
  1
I absolutely understand this. I've been traveling to Vancouver, BC a lot and my god, it's so easy to get around without a car. I'm sure it's not the golden standard, but it's sure great

1
- We occasionally zoop to Chicago on the Amtrak. Buy a 24 hour transit pass for $5 and we're good to go for the weekend. I'm much more relaxed, it cost less than driving and parking. No worries about the car getting broken into. It's pretty great.
  
  2

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.

14

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.

2
- I’ve never seen an electric car that used a CVT, normally they are just direct drive.
  
  Potato, potato.
  
  0

I went from a manual '08 wrangler to a' 23 model 3 and I gotta tell you, I'm so much happier with it. Granted, I live in the city now and driving a stick shift in and out of parking lots daily was a major pain in the ass, but I still think I'd be happy back in the suburbs. Here's my first thoughts:

Electricity is wayyyyy cheaper than gas. Plus you can charge whenever you aren't using the car if you have a garage.
I know jeeps aren't sporty cars but my model 3 feels 100x more responsive than a jeep. Consider that electricity starts working immediately. To start a manual you need to take your foot off the clutch, push in the gas, let that gas get to the engine, ignite, and then the car moves. Sure that process takes less than a second but it's hard to overstate how fast electric cars can go immediately
Electric cars are all inherently newer and have a lot of cool new features. Auto parking, self-driving, adaptive cruise control, voice activated commands, driver profiles, and more made it feel like I went from the stone age to the industrial revolution overnight

That's not to say it's all sunshine and roses. Some downsides:

I'm definitely a worse driver now. Manuals keep all 4 limbs focused on driving and make it really hard to get distracted. This is kind of a wash because the self-driving feels way safer on the highway than a human driver
Recharging is not as easy as refueling. As long as you plan ahead this isn't an issue but you can't lazily say "oh I'll get gas in the morning on the way to work" and you have to spend longer on road trips. During my day to day I actually save time because I just plug in when I'm going to be home anyway. Plus some places have free charging

And lastly this is kind of medium:

People can borrow my car. I like having a car my girlfriend can actually drive when it's relevant but other people want to try to drive my car and sometimes it's a little annoying

I don't think we're ready for everyone to go electric but if you're the type to not drive everyday and live in an area with decent access to chargers I think it's worth considering

14

Just to clarify, you don’t have to hit the gas, you can just let off the clutch

-1
- What a weird nitpicky thing to argue about. Sure you can start a manual by easing off the clutch properly but that's obviously not what we're talking about. We're talking about the differences between driving manual and electric and that's clearly the use-case people will have 95%+ of their driving time. What do you think you're adding to this conversation?
  
  1

My car had always been a stick shift. I bought an electric car and am very happy.

As a consolation, EVs can be considered "manual", they never shift gears of their own accord. They just only have one gear.... So it's a one speed manual transmission...

13

My car's a stick, my wife's is electric. One of the reasons I don't really like automatics as I don't like how it always felt the car wanted to "drive itself" as soon as I let off the brake, and the ability to still gear down it up for conditions.

My wife's car pretty much covers most of that. It doesn't go until I hit the gas.

The thing has a huge amount of torque and acceleration for a passenger vehicle, and engine braking actually recovers power on downhill.

It corners very nicely. The balance is more towards center than my car due to the battery weight in the bottom-middle.

If I have to give up my clutch, an electric is probably the best choice IMO

10

The thing with a manual is that they're great when the road is twisting away in front of you and you can really engage with the experience, but let's face it, most of the time you're stuck in traffic with an aching left foot. I've also driven many different kinds of autos, some great and some truly terrible. Even the best automatics are in no way comparable to driving an EV.

Sure, sometimes I do miss the feel and engagement of a manual when the conditions are but I stick the EV into sports mode, which gives a decent approximation of engine braking, and use the instant torque that you only get with electric to make my own fun through the corners.

The rest of the time, when I am stuck in traffic or just going from A to B, it's so relaxing and smooth and so much less stressful than anything else. I wouldn't go back.

The only issue I can foresee is that unless you want an SUV your choice of EVs is very limited. I certainly can't think of anything Mazda 2 sized.

10

Yeahhhhh, it's such a pittance that everything is so big. I saw a Mazda 3 ev I think? And there's a VW golf EV but only in the UK I think, and that's way too much of a hassle

1
- There's the Mazda MX-30 if that's what you mean? But it's yet another SUV.
  
  There are some options now that I think about it, but whether any of them are available in your country is another matter.
  
  Renault Zoe - probably what I'd choose if I wanted something Mazda 2-esque.
  
  Homda E - Really expensive for the limited range. Maybe good deals to be had second hand?
  
  VW ID3 - Golf sized. Possibly your best bet in terms of availability.
  
  Fiat 500e - Or the nutty Abarth 500e with its fake (and very loud) engine noise.
  
  Mini electric - Anything but mini.
  
  MG4 - Very popular in the UK. Cheap, decent range, albeit a little ugly.
  
  In the UK there's also the Vauxhall Corsa E. Might be available elsewhere under the Opel brand?
  
  I think that's about it. It's such a shame that the EV market is still very much dominated by SUVs.
  
  2

I just did this. Been driving manual in my personal car for 30 years. Someone crashed into my car and totalled it, and I took the opportunity to go electric. I won't go back.

Electric has far, far more control because it's controlling the motor millisecond to millisecond, and not trying to reign in explosions.

So quiet. So efficient. No loss of power. And now I'm saving $2k/year in fuel costs.

10

I own a '94 Miata and a KIA EV6, and I drive my electric vehicle far more than my stick shift. It's a different kind of fun, having so much power instantly and it's an incredibly smooth & quiet ride. The maintenance and fuel costs are far cheaper too.

It's gotten to the point where I'm not driving my Miata enough to keep the battery charged and the fuel fresh. I still love driving it though, nothing quite like a weekend drive with the top down...but it's not my #1 choice to drive anymore.

8

I would drive an electric every day.

I'm excited for the idea of having a self driving car some day so I can wave goodbye to so much stress in my life.

I drive a Manual and a CVT.

I believe 1 pedal driving (take your foot off the gas and it applies the brakes) might be an interesting option for you.

8

1 pedal driving is one of my favorite things about my EV. I've always thought automatic transmissions are kind of silly for one reason: "What do you mean I can't just not press the go pedal and have it not go? Why do I have to specifically press the stop pedal for it to not go? Why isn't not pressing the go pedal enough for it to not go? Doesn't anyone else see how silly this is?"

5

I don't love manual, I just hate automatics (at least in small cars). Automatics in my experience shift gears when you least want it, giving you unexpected changes in acceleration.

As electric cars are not geared, they should just give you an expected output continuously.

7

Yes. In fact we did. PHEV, but still electric part of the time.

Love the hell out of it. Being able to cruise around town for weeks and use zero gas. We charge at home, so no $$ charging subscription.

For context I’m a Gearhead. Built muscle cars myself and with friends, work on my own vehicles as much as possible, love the sound of muscle and high-rev exotics…and I have no problem with electric cars. People in my hobby group tend to be bass-ackwards and stubborn, they dislike change. I find their whining about electric cars to be louder than a straight cut gearbox. Hell with that. EV power and performance is astonishing, we just gotta get the charging and range sorted out. We’ll still have gas-powered muscle and exotics, but they’ll be specialty cars and not daily drivers.

Times change. Move forward, don’t cling to the past like painting a brand-new Porsche GT3 RS in a 55 year old ‘68 Gulf livery. SMH.

7

Had an ex-friend of mine say electric cars would never have the torque of ICE. That sounds exactly backward to me. FFS, don't we drive warships with electric engines (in some cases)?

I know nothing about cars, but I've fiddled with DC motors since I was a child. Torque seems off the chain to me. Apply power, get scary force, instantly.

Am I misunderstanding something?

2
- They write multi-page articles extolling the virtues of performance in ICE cars.
  
  EV outperform ICE in many performance metrics, especially torque. Suddenly ICE fans: “Performance doesn’t matter!”
  
  It’s just missing that sound. There’s no doubt about, or getting around, that.
  
  5

I have an EV and a truck with a manual. I love them both.

Every time I swap back to my EV I'm shocked (no pun intended) by how immediate the response from the accelerator is. There's no delay for air to flow, revs to build, nothing.. Just instant, push you back into the seat torque.

That being said, I also fully expect my Toyota to outlast my Tesla lol

7

Where I'm from most people drive manuals, then I moved to Aus and autos were more popular but I stuck with manuals mostly as I wasn't a fan of the clunkiness in autos. EVs are completely different to automatics, they drive so smoothly and they're great. I say that as a life-long manual driver.

7

I'm a daily rider/commuter by motorcycle and I'd love to get an electric bike. I don't think I'd miss shifting gears at all, but (and I've been thinking about this) I think I'd like to have some kind of electric "clutch" that doesn't work at all like a regular clutch but performs a similar function. In this case it would adjust the throttle map. Clutch full in = throttle does nothing. Clutch full out = aggressive or linear throttle map. I have not actually ridden any of the high end e-motos to know if this is necessary, but in my mind I would miss the ability to feather the clutch.

6

If you do a lot of off road riding you will probably eat shit with an electric bike at least at first due to having clutch-feathering muscle memory, and that functionality not being there anymore. That, or if you like to do wheelies you are undoubtedly going to loop yourself the first time you try it on such a hypothetical bike with loads of torque and no clutch.

2

We call them manuals here. I've only had one automatic and it was awful. But it was a cheaper car than I normally drive. I prefer manuals as I have more control over the car.

Electric is very different to an automatic combustion engine. I'm absolutely fine with electric.

6

I would convert a manual transmission car to electric, and hook the electric motor up to the input shaft on the transmission just to be perverse.

6

Many people do just that. There are whole companies that will sell you adapters to allow you to do this. You can even go without a clutch to save a lot of rotating weight if you don't mind having to finesse the pedal a bit when shifting.

1

Recently had an electric Fiat 500 as a replacement while my car (Mazda 3) was in service and I absolutely loved how it drives. Nice consistent acceleration, immediate reaction to the throttle. Much better than the automatic transmission cars I drove before. 3 problems though:

range (duh): I often need to drive for 280km in one go, vast majority of EVs can't do that reliably (with AC and going 130km/h). If you can survive a day on one charge it is awesome though: plug it overnight and you're ready to go in the morning
the price of the car (it felt waaay too simple and plastic-y inside compared to 30K euro price I googled)
big brother software on the headunit, although there is no escape from it with any new car these days

5

EVs are not like combustion engine automatic transmissions. You can actually control power pretty accurately, which is the weakness of automatic transmissions. I prefer manual (assuming I don't get stuck in traffic) but EVs are fun to drive tbh

5

My last car was a 2005 VW Golf 1.6 manual. It was a fun little car. It looked like trash, and i treated it like trash. We had many fun adventures together.

I went over to an EV after being tired of paying a fortune in petrol. My current car is a BMW i3, and i LOVE it. It's rear wheel drive, cheap to run and cheap to service. I live close to the arctic circle, so it's snowy about 5 months of the year, and this little thing with its skinny wheels is superb on winter roads.

Looking back, i don't miss driving manual. Driving an EV is completely noiseless and calm. No fiddling with the stick, no clutching, just pure pleasure. The rear wheel drive makes it equally fun to drive, and skidding around in the winter is really fun.

4

I can say I am a stick shift driver (S2000 fun car, Elcamino other fun car, IS300 time attack car) and I also own an electric car (Polestar 2). They are all fun in their own ways. The Polestar is our daily driver and saves us a shit load on gas. Also it is fast AF and will embarrass my racecar off the line, but it is driven for different reasons. Also not worrying about a hill start in traffic with a heavy clutch is nice.

4

People sleep on the Polestar 2. I have one so I'm biased but they're kickass.

Look at all the comments here saying "they're all SUVs or micro cars".... Uh, what?

2

Yes, absolutely. I would want a similar sized car, I have a 2005 Mazda 2 Neo hatchback now and I love the size of it. I don't need huge range, 300kms would be enough, I live in regional Australia and honestly the charging networks have gotten big enough for 300kms to be sufficient. Also electrics have great torque and are so responsive, it would be great to drive in some of the unsealed roads around here.

4

Funny you ask, I was thinking of just this lately. I love driving manual, I would never buy an automatic ICE vehicle. That being said, if there was an affordable electric option I'd go for it in a second even though they don't really have transmissions at all from what I gather.

4

Waiting for a sporty Honda ev.

Driving a accord 07.

Would trade it all for a s2000 though 😅

4

Waiting for a sporty Honda ev.

genuinely thinking of electrifying my old honda element, there's plenty of space in the front for the motor and under the frame for batteries...

3
- Honda element would be awesome as an EV. There's a lot of versatility in that vehicle. I wouldn't be brave enough to do it though.
  
  1

I prefer manual (probably only because I live in the UK and autos are much less common here) but I'm not so precious about it that I'd prevent myself doing something that's objectively better for the environment.

4

I went from a manual V8 mustang to an model 3.

I haven't had any sense of losing control with having that instant acceleration with heavy regenerative braking and using one pedal driving. Plus in stop and go, having that adaptive cruise is a game changer from the mustang.

I honestly don't regret switching at all.

4

All of my vehicles have been manuals. I'll probably pass on full electric until there is more infrastructure. Right now, I would be looking at a plug-in hybrid.

3

I recently went manual to plugin hybrid and it's been a joy.

I'd only consider another manual for a "fun" weekend driver or something.

1

I have only once willingly purchased a car with an automatic, a 2020 VW GLI with DSG. It was awesome. I just traded it in a couple of weeks ago on a 2024 VW GLI with a six-speed. I doubt I go back to DSG even though they are technological marvels.

I'm old enough that this might be my last vehicle. I'll be fine shifting my own gears until they take my license away.

3

Isn't there a large difference between automatic and electric?

The automatic still has gears, they're just... Automatic. The EV doesn't have any kind of traditional gears. Unless, perhaps, if they have a variable frequency drive or something similar.

Either way, I haven't driven much automatic nor electric, but I've heard that the control of an electric should be unparalleled.

If anyone knows more, then please feel free to correct me.

3

Aside from the obvious, an automatic and how they handle shifting makes a difference in how acceleration is handled vs an electric. CVT transmissions, if they were allowed to operate how they are suppose to instead of adding fake shifting to stop idiotic complaints, would perform more like how an electric accelerates without the torque. Being able to just accelerate without the transmission deciding what gear to be in is a big advantage of electrics, but largely unimportant to typical driving.

The Porsche Taycan has 2 gears, but you don't control the shifting. I don't know if the incomming Porsche EVs will also have gears. I expect electrics to go to some number of gears to increase efficiency to extend range, but maybe everyone is banking on battery tech improving to avoid the additional cost of adding gears.

I'm not sure what you mean by "control". Do you mean handling?

4
- Thank you for the elaboration.
  
  I ended up mixing two definitions of "control" in my tiredness, whoops.
  
  I intended to refer to OPs "control", which I imagine is supposed to be the ability to use low/high gears as the situation requires, such as going a gear lower when overtaking, or using a high gear when cruise on the common roads for better fuel efficiency. Automatic often (always?) allows or perhaps even forces these modi, but it doesn't always feel satisfactory when you're used to stick, at least not the older models.
  
  I guess I ended up using "control" as "ability to handle varying power and speed (aka. torque) requirements", which gives the EV a clear advantage as it can change speed and power while maintaining a constant torque.
  
  1

I went from a manual to an EV. For an everyday use point of view there is just no comparison. Acceleration is effortless, start/stop traffic is no longer a nightmare, it's quiet and refined. It is the ideal daily driver. Even on longer trips I no longer feel fatigued after driving for 4-5 hours (the enforced charging stop helps with that).

I personally would not go back to an ICE car in general, manual or not, for everyday use.

From an enthusiasts perspective, however, this is a different question. I wouldn't rule out getting an ICE manual for fun/weekend use in the future - the kind of driving where you can actually enjoy the level of fine control and feedback that a manual gives you, rather than just wasting it in traffic. But it would have to be something pretty special.

3

I almost bought an electric vehicle recently, but ended up getting one last stick car. I will be buying electric, but I will hate giving up my manual transmission.

3

You can get the best of both worlds. Do an electric conversion, attach the electric motor to the existing transmission. Manual EV, enjoy the fun of the stick shift with zero emissions.

Shifting an EV is kind of pointless but if you enjoy it, you do you.

3

Almost. At some point I probably will, but I'm not quite ready yet (mpstly because I haven't found an EV that fits my needs, and the infrastructure where I live is somewhat limited). So I am getting a gas/electric hybrid in a couple of months to replace my aging gasser.

2

I daily drive a stick and I’m honestly going to be sad the day I can no longer find a stick shift. It’s just so much more engaging to feel all of the mechanics react. I’ve ridden in a couple electrics, and while in almost every technical way, it’s better on paper, I prefer the vibration, noise, extra hand/footwork and so on of ICE and a manual transmission.

2

EV with stick shift: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a45754176/toyota-manual-ev-prototype-drive/

2

Can't afford one

2

1

I have a 2017 vehicle with a manual transmission. It is probably one of the last of it's kind and I fully expect my next vehicle purchase to be an ICE vehicle or at least the next big alternative fuel source. I have always driven old Japanese stick shifts until recently, and I can't say I won't miss it, but the future is now old man. I hope to get another 10 years out of my current vehicle, so it'll at least be awhile.

2

My sole current hangup on getting an EV (other than my '80s 300zx is still running) is that they are trucks, SUVs, sedans, or micro city cars. I feel like the last time I looked there was one or two little hatchbacks on the horizon, but not really anything in production.

Also not a fan of the current prices of course, but there seems to be a "missing middle" of a small car with good handling. Maybe the e500 or something will be that, but not enthusiastic about that coming to the US, and would like to have some options.

FWIW I have driven several and really like one pedal driving, but they all feel so big.

2

Maybe it's just because I'm surrounded by giant SUVs & trucks, but the Bolt EUV feels like a little hatchback and handles great.

1
- The Bolt or something similar is probably what I'd go for if my car died tomorrow. I just don't need the 2nd row of seating/doors at all. No one's really making a new 2+2. (which I think is because it was (is?) partially a tax dodge so it wasn't a "2 seater sports car" or somesuch)
  
  I know I'm being weird and picky but I like having just a big flat cargo space behind the front seats, partly because the dog likes going back there to lay down. It'd probably be fine but I think the way most modern 2nd rows only fold down to "angled" instead of flat is annoying.
  
  1

Not now, no. I have concerns about long term cost, keep my cars forever, have nowhere to charge the thing, and do greatly enjoy a more analog driving experience.

I'll probably buy one eventually, but I will also probably be noticeably behind the curve on this particular trend. If nothing else, it will be time for my next new car before EVs really take over, and I'll (hopefully!) keep that car for a couple of decades.

2

When I bought my current car, I was looking for an electrical solution, but there was none. All tiny matchboxes on wheels, no space, no comfortable height to enter or leave the car for people with handycaps.

I have now seen the ID Buzz. Big enough? Just about. But it cost three times what I paid for my car, with half the options, and is butt ugly on top. As if it was designed to look horrible.

1

I've had several manual cars including 1998 Chevy Tracker (first car) 2017 Ford Fiesta ST (traded for a Lincoln towncar of all things) 1991 Ford F250 (still have)

I daily an electric Fiat 500, it's fine. I will say that when I hop on my motorcycle and bang through the gears it's briefly exciting but still slower/same speed as the lil Fiat.

1

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44211128/toyota-prototype-ev-sports-car-manual-transmission/

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/features/electric-manual-transmission

There are also a couple guys in Los Angeles that have been tinkering with converting older cars into EVs and some are made manual transmission as well

I kinda want to get an old 1986 SAAb 900 SPG and convert it to a manual EV

1

I had a manual for about 75k miles, mostly liked it, but have had an automatic since then (inheritence coming into play, free car = free car). I had a little Chevy Spark EV for about a year that was a joy. Honestly, not having to change gears at all is AWESOME. You don't think about the motion caused by even the best of manual shifts (let alone terrible CVT shifts) until it's not there. It's so much smoother to get up to speed and I loved it.

Waiting for battery tech to get a little better and running out my current car (Shoutouts to Toyota), then will be going back to an electric car.

1

Where I am, manuals have been difficult to get for the last few decades, so I gave it up. Actually I gave it up after spending too many hours sitting in traffic in a tunnel under Boston Harbor. Manuals may be a more satisfying driving experience but they sure became a hassle to find and to use

Since then, I’ve learned to appreciate other technologies for what they are. I’ll probably never like the traditional American land yacht automatic designed to just be cushy but there are plenty of sports sedans with outstanding, responsive automatics. I’ve also grown to appreciate the CVT in my Subaru: it’s a nice steady pull that is just always there and ready (CVTs got a bad name from from underpowered cars when the technology was new). But now I have a Tesla and wow! The instant torque and acceleration from any speed are out of this world , and the lack of engine noise makes it feel effortless. I’ll always love to feel the rumble of a big V8, but now it feels quaint, like that really cool steam engine in a museum. All that sound and fury, signifying nothing but noise and pollution.

Realistically the only transmission I hate (aside from traditional American land yacht automatics) is the fakes. Let me appreciate the transmission for what it does well, but when you add artificial shift points and fake noises, I’ll have none of that. I love my Subaru CVT but newer models have fake shift points, so no

1

I bought a hybrid honda civic last year which only has one gear, so no point in having manual transmission. Don't really miss it, although I always liked the extra control stick gives.

1

Only if its a hybrid that uses capacitors and a high output engine that only charges the capacitors.

So you get like 30-60 seconds of continuous insane power that you can put to the wheels, but after that the engine has to recharge the capacitors and provide enough to barely accelerate at the speed of like a a big semi without a hefty engine.

The trick is since you're not always doing WOT, you can effectively get ridiculous performance and really good MPG so long as you treat your capacitors like a boost meter that recharges.

Regular hybrids already do this, but they use normal Li batteries which usually requires that the engine also be able to directly power the wheels which adds complexity and cost.

It's kind of like how the ships works in Elite Dangerous lol.

0

no.

0

Just no? C'mon my friend, be casual.

1