Porsche Finally Realized That Fake Gear Shifts Are The Key To Fun EVs

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.

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.

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