Toyota has patented an intriguing new feature for its future electric cars. Like traditional cars with a combustion engine and manual transmission, they will briefly stall when started before resuming movement.
In doing so, the Japanese corporation hopes to bring the emotions from driving an EV closer to those that ICE drivers experience. The company reasons that the conservative car fans ‘with gasoline for blood’ will appreciate this little gimmick and hopefully make an easier transition to all-electric driving.
To implement this feature, Toyota imitates a classic tachometer and an idling engine through electronic means. If the car starts at what it believes to be a ‘low RPM count’, then the electric motor will stall out for a moment. The patent doesn’t go into detail on how the driver is supposed to realize what happened, though. ICE car owners can easily tell what’s happening by their engine sound, while an EV may require some additional indication.
