I know electric cars don’t need multiple gears, but wouldn’t they benefit from them in anyway at high speed for example?

Question

I know electric cars don’t need multiple gears, but wouldn’t they benefit from them in anyway at high speed for example?

In: Technology

Answer 1

They actually do! Bosch and some other companies are working on two speed and continuously variable transmissions for this space! The hang is that you don’t benefit that much but you add a good deal of cost, complexity, and packaging. The reason they don’t benefit that much is because an electric motor has a much wider range where it operated at high efficiency vs a combustion engine.

Look up “permanent magnet synchronous motor efficiency map” and “gas engine efficiency map” for some more technical insight!