Even BMW M Likes Hyundai's Simulated EV Gears
One of the most interesting, perhaps controversial features of the upcoming Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is its simulated gearshifts. The Ioniq 5 N doesn't have a transmission, but it has a mode which simulates an eight-speed gearbox, with paddle shifters on the back of the steering wheel. When engaged the electric motors deliver power/torque and cuts between shifts as if they're a gas engine. It's an intriguing idea, and one that's piqued the interest of BMW M head Frank Van Meel.
"I like the way they think," van Meel told Australia's Which Car? magazine. "If you need eight gears, I'm not sure… But it's one solution because what's really clear is that if you drive on the track—and we always come from racing with M—there's no time to look at the speedometer to see how fast you are going."
A lot of drivers judge corners based on what gear they're taken in. Knowing which gear you're in helps you time your braking and keeps you in the right speed range for all phases of the corner. In an EV, it's easy to get disoriented. A third-gear corner becomes, simply, a corner. You have your reference points for braking and turn-in to rely on, but on a race track, you want every bit of feedback you can get. Lots of EVs have programmed sounds to give you an idea of speed, and that's great on the road, but it's tied to vehicle speed, so it's not what a track driver is used too.
Van Meel said that with BMW M's upcoming, first all-electric model, the company is looking at solutions like Hyundai's, though it may not copy this one directly.
"You need that feedback because if you're driving in an electric car with just one gear, making some kind of sound over seven octaves, you don't know if you're in the middle [of the revs] and if that's the equal to 90 mph or wherever you are," van Meel said. "So that actually will not work. And we need a solution for that. And one of the solutions might be to simulate gears or to have another acoustic feedback or even vibrations as a feedback. And those are things we're looking into."
BMW already sells "M Performance" EVs, including the i4 M50, i5 M50, and iX M60, but these are not intended to be track cars. This upcoming M car is a different, and harder proposition. "[F]or high performance models its a little bit more complicated because we're not only building cars that are developed on the race track, actually they should perform on the race track and that's a little bit more complicated." As for a timeline, van Meel only said we'll see the all-electric M sometime this decade.
Hyundai's simulated gearshift mode isn't necessarily going to produce the ultimate lap time, as it's artificially limiting motor output. But if you're looking to set fast laps and have fun, it's a very clever solution, even if it's purely simulation. It's a credit to Hyundai's N division that BMW M, the king of in-house automaker performance departments, and the sub-brand on which N has been modeled, is interested in its approach.
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