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harry harry is offline
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Default O.T. electric cars - do they have gearboxes?

On Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:47:29 UTC+1, Murmansk wrote:
I've just been for a ride in someone's Nissan Leaf - it was impressive, so quiet and amazing acceleration.

Do electric cars have a gearbox (an automatic one I presume)? Or does the motor just run faster the faster you go? I was told by the owner the optimum speed for economy of battery usage is about 55mph.

It doesn't sound like it's changing gear.


Internal combustion engines are inherently unsuitable for traction, hence the need for gearboxes/clutches etc.
Electric motors can be designed to be ideal for traction.
Max torque at zero rpm.
However this leads to skidding on moving from rest so most have some form of traction control.
Some electric cars have gearboxes but not many. Morgan was one of them.
When you have owned and electric car, you won't want to go back to petrol/diesel.
They are very cheap to run but costly to buy. No road tax ATM

Be warned, nobody can fix them if they go wrong.
Parts are modular and expensive. Batteries are very expensive.
There are lots of theories about battery life/deterioration.
No-one seems to know the truth.