Bosch Says Electric Cars Will Have Transmissions Soon

Bosch has said that electric cars in the future may have transmissions. The current trend is direct-drive for electric cars, which is essentially a single gear that moves the car right from stationary to its top speed.

Direct-drive transmissions have the benefits of being cheaper and less complicated with fewer moving parts, but all that may change to tap into the instant torque an electric motor provides, so it can be utilised even at higher speeds.

The benefits of having a multi-speed transmission also trickle down to efficiency, as is evident from the motorcycle world's Brammo, whose six-speed electric motorcycle, the Empulse, delivers an unbelievable 0.54 litre/100 km-e.*

Also Read: Indian Government Could Support Eco-Friendly Vehicles

Bosch estimates the sales of electric vehicles will increase to 2.5 million units, and by 2020, 3 million units of plug-in hybrids. Driving enthusiasts may have worried that they would not be able to downshift to second for a sharp right hander in an electric car, but maybe those worries can be laid to rest, if these predictions do indeed come true.

*0.54 litre/Km-e comes from MPGe which is a new fuel efficiency measuring system in the US to compare the economy of electric cars with regular internal combustion engined vehicles. To compare petrol and electricity combustion, a standard unit that measures energy is required. Burning one gallon of petrol creates 115,000 BTU, with the electrical equivalent to this being 33.7 kWh. Therefore how far an electric car travels on 33.7 kWh compares to how far a regular petrol-engined car travels on one gallon.