They’re sticking it to Gen Z.
Ford’s new electric vehicles could soon see a retro addition: manual gear shifters.
A patent application from the automaker published this month details a gear shift for electric cars that mimics the appearance of a traditional stick shift — but without any gears to actualy switch between.
The issue? Only 18% of Americans know how to use a stick shift — with the number even lower among drivers.
The Wall Street Journal reports that just 1% of cars currently sold in the US have a manual transmission, in contrast with 80% in Europe.
According to the Daily Mail, the addition of a gear shift could be an attempt to mitigate complaints regarding a “lack of driver engagement” reported among EV users.
“Electric vehicles lack operator to vehicle physical feedback that is advantageous in conventional motor vehicles,” the company wrote in the patent, which outlined the design of an electric gear shift mounted on a raised console.
The gear shift would vibrate and provide resistance to mimic the manual transmission of a fuel-powered vehicle while allowing the driver to control the electricity between the car battery and motor.
And Ford isn’t the only car manufacturer driving this trend.
Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 N features “fake EV shifting,” which mimics how a manual transmission would behave.
Similarly, Toyota’s Lexus RZ will feature “Interactive Manual Drive,” which recreates the “feeling that the midsize SUV has an eight-speed manual transmission,” according to reports.
