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Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech
Oh, absolutely agree. Why drive around with two complete power trains? Stay gas or go full electric. Although, not going to lie, the new 330e X-Drive is really tempting me. Enough range for Monday-Friday. Gas motor would only get used leaving the city.
Once solid state batteries become the norm, and a charge can be done in 5-10 mins, the gas powered cars days are numbered. My next daily will be full electric for sure.
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I think the ideal drivetrain is a hybrid, but one where an internal combustion engine at it peak efficiency speed and powers an electrical generator. The vehicle has some level of battery storage for electrical energy and a some level of capacitance electrical energy for max electrical discharge to the electric drive system peak demands. That architecture gains the benefit of both the massive energy storage locked in carbon fuels and the efficiency of an electric motor drive system. It solves the ridiculous long recharge time of the EV and greatly increases the energy conversion from carbon fuels. Carbon fuel energy density far out matches batteries.
By dividing the work of motion between these three systems, each system can be designed to their lightest form for overall vehicle weight reduction. The GM Voltec drivetrain was on the path of developing such a vehicle, but regulations against carbon fuel burning make it not worth the investment. Unfortunately the world is regulated to develop the BEV and that's it. It's settled science.
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A manual transmission can be set to "comfort", "sport", and "track" modes simply by the technique and speed at which you shift it; it doesn't need "modes", modes are for manumatics that try to behave like a real 3-pedal manual transmission. If you can money-shift it, it's a manual transmission. "Yeah, but NO ONE puts an automatic trans shift knob on a manual transmission."