Sales of electric vehicles have finally overtaken manual cars in the US for the first time in 2019, with EVs representing 1.6% of cars sold in the Land of the Free, compared to the 1.1% market share of three-pedal vehicles.The statistics were published by Green Car Reports, which obtained the data from Power Information Network.
In Australia, CarAdvice said figures from the Electric Vehicle Council show that 6,718 EVs and plug-in hybrid cars were sold in 2019, which is three times more than the 2,216 units sold in 2018. The rise is largely attributed to the proliferation of electric cars and the shrinking option for cars with manual transmission.
While many entry-level mainstream cars and enthusiast vehicles still come with a manual gearbox from the factory, mounting regulatory pressure on CO2 emissions and declining demand have forced automakers to abandon the stick. In fact, automakers like Renault have began introducing dual-clutch options for the Renault Megane RS, which it claims will help broaden the car’s appeal.
There are exceptions to the rule, of course. In 2019, more than half of the Mazda MX-5s sold in Australia are manuals, and demand for the Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition – which is exclusively available with a manual gearbox – remains high. Volkswagen also revealed that it remains committed to the stick, and last year introduced the new MQ281 gearbox designed to fit on all of its models.
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Agreed. myself bought the FC Honda Civic Type R solely becos of that manual gearbox… rare bro.
so, EV cars are as rare as manual cars.
only about 1% are EV/Manual cars.
It only tells us Americans are getting lazier.
EVs was never a “sprint”, but definitely coming.
90% of VW golf sold in Europe are manual. Europeans like hatchbacks, diesel engines and manual transmission more.compare to Asians and Americans.
petrol? this sure drink petrol like water.
diesel more economy maa
That’s very US “thing” to report, anyway…EV is boring, why?
No matter what configuration the power plant is, there’s only one character across any EV: high torque linear power delivery with soft high pitch sound, and no transmission other than one gear ratio. There’s so little to differentiate amongst them.
Traditional engine have I4, I6, V6, V8, V10, V12, Boxer 4, Boxer 6, etc. N/A or forced induction like Turbo, Supercharge, Twin Charge. Come with up to 9 speed transmissions, Manual, Auto, DCT, AMT.
Pair up any of those configurations and cars have “only god know” so many characters just from it’s engines and transmission configuration alone. So many different engine notes & sounds to enjoy.
That’s not even diving into details yet, like Flat Plane vs Cross Plane crankshaft, firing order, a different tech of VVT, VVL across brands, exhaust systems, various metals and alloys choice for every single engine parts, a different design in every single engine parts, etc. Yeah the possibilities is endless, and we can have a totally different experience with different car even from the same class & category.
EV is not bad, especially for mass consumer who don’t give a dam about point A to point B driving machine, but still want a BMW. I just hope they carmakers won’t go as far as creating a 4 wheeled robot to race among themselves, and leave the enthusiast community with nothing other than EV for track day.
“The rise is largely attributed to the proliferation of electric cars and the shrinking option for cars with manual transmission.”
Because people can’t buy manual cars, they buy electric cars instead???
most people driving manual drives it for sports while 90% of sports cars out there do not offer manual options.