Toyota is diving headlong into simulated manual transmissions for future EVs, and dozens of automakers are using fake engine noises for theirs, but BMW’s head of R&D, Frank Weber, has spoken out against both sets of technologies, implying they’re gimmicky and not in the spirit of the way BMW does things.
Speaking to InsideEVs at a recent roundtable chat, Weber laughed at the supposition that BMW might emulate simulated transmissions as seen in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and Toyota EV prototypes, the latter a simulated manual gearbox. “Yeah, we can maybe emulate a stick also, a digital stick,” he said jokingly.
But he didn’t rubbish the proposal entirely, rather highlighting that it isn’t something high on BMW’s development priority list, and that if the brand decides to pursue something of the sort, it can do so quickly and easily.
