Electric motors have so much torque even at low revs that a gearbox is unnecessary for most people. If you can get enough torque for a fast start in 5th, there's no reason for the gearbox, you might as well save the extra complexity and keep the car permanently in 5th.

Combustion cars have gearboxes because they only work well at a narrow range of revs. Bicycles have more gears than cars because humans have an even narrower range of revs where they work best at.

[–] ShittyRedditWasBetter@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

EVs still have peak operational variables, things like heat. Having 2 gears solves the danger problems. Quicker acceleration and better efficiency. Just because it's expensive right now doesn't mean you won't continue to see them on high end vehicle and start to trickle into the mid range stuff.

[–] biddy@feddit.nl 1 points 1 year ago

Why is a electric motor overheating dangerous? Surely any electric car is going to have a system to throttle itself if overheating is an issue, and it will need that with or without gears.

The fastest accelerating electric cars are single speed, presumably because it's not worth changing gear when you only have 2 seconds.

I can see why it might be useful in specific product categories, but when it's not helpful for price or performance or reliability, that's going to continue to be niche. The real problem electric cars need to solve right now is cost and a gearbox isn't helping with that.

[–] PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

We do

EVs have a single reduction gear and no transmission or gear change. Most are rated for around a million miles and only require a gear oil change every few years or so.

https://www.marklines.com/en/report_all/rep1779_201811