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This Chinese Electric Car Designed For Driving Schools Has A Fake Manual Transmission


kobayashiGT
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This Chinese Electric Car Designed For Driving Schools Has A Fake Manual Transmission

source: https://jalopnik.com/this-chinese-electric-car-designed-for-driving-schools-1844071179

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I was really, really tempted to do a more click-baity headline there and not tell you why this Chinese EV designed for Driving Schools was so weird, but I feel like I’m already kind of pushing it lately with this glut of Chinese car content, so I backed off. But, I assure you, you need to see this because it’s so wonderfully, perversely, deeply weird. It’s an EV with an entirely fake manual transmission. It’s sort of like a driving simulator that’s also a real, un-simulated car. It’s a mindf**k and it’s also absolutely a product of this very specific era we live in.

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The car is the Chery New Energy eQ2 Driving School Version, and from what I can tell, it was released in 2018. It looks like the impetus behind this deeply strange machine came from a desire to eliminate emissions from driving school vehicles, which tend to do a lot of sitting and idling, burning fuel and expelling exhaust gases, needlessly. EVs solve this issue, but, in a country still dominated by manual transmission, internal combustion cars, EVs can’t effectively teach students how to drive manuals.

The car is based on the Cowin C3, a conventional, even boring ICE small sedan, and in its Chery eQ2 guise gets a 57 horsepower electric motor and enough batteries to give it a range of around 250 miles, which is decent, even if the power is about the same as what was listed for a 1970 VW Beetle. Or about four horses more than my Nissan Pao.

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The Driving School variant adds a tachometer, clutch pedal, and five-speed shifter. All of which, are, of course, fake. Well, the parts are real enough, but what they do is all an illusion.

The various inputs of clutch and shifter work with software in the car that cause it to behave like a manual, ICE car, with shift points, simulated engine sounds, and it can even “stall” if you let off the clutch too quickly.

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It’s kind of like if you had a jet aircraft with a fake propeller and fake piston-engine controls and displays inside, sort of? Really, beyond cars like those Subarus with CVT transmissions that fake shift points, I can’t think of another car that has done anything quite this bonkers.

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I may see if the Lane Museum would be interested to buy one of these, because it’s such a strange artifact of this particular transition era that I feel like at least one deserves preservation.

Plus, I’d really love to know what this crazy thing feels like to drive, in that manual simulation mode. I bet it’s very weird.

Quote

China is doing what they do best. 🤦‍♂️

 

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13 minutes ago, Beregond said:

damn clever on this, so a new driver can take manual lesson using  a ev car?

I would think it is like playing in the arcade's initial D with the fake shift stick. You can twist the stick but it do nothing at all. 😅

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When can bring into Singapore? 

I used car dealer / driving instructor these days. 

Jamesc Surepass Driving Academy. JSDA

:D

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Not a bad idea actually, still able to teach the very basic fundamentals of driving.

I still feel we need to get the basic fundamentals correct of a manual car then straight into an auto, thou wont deny majority of cars today are auto transmission which are better than manual in technology.

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18 minutes ago, Unfazed said:

Not a bad idea actually, still able to teach the very basic fundamentals of driving.

I still feel we need to get the basic fundamentals correct of a manual car then straight into an auto, thou wont deny majority of cars today are auto transmission which are better than manual in technology.

But the clutch and the gear shift will do nothing to the car leh.

The student most probably will shift gear and step on the clutch anyhow. so It defeats the purpose of learning a manual. haha.

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1 hour ago, kobayashiGT said:

But the clutch and the gear shift will do nothing to the car leh.

The student most probably will shift gear and step on the clutch anyhow. so It defeats the purpose of learning a manual. haha.

Oic...I see where u r coming from...

Ya, if no feel of between the legs then defeat the purpose (dun think astray pls haha).

I hv never driven an EV b4, most times I m on stick shift...

Think i m a dino thou still considered not very old.

Lol...

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1 hour ago, kobayashiGT said:

But the clutch and the gear shift will do nothing to the car leh.

The student most probably will shift gear and step on the clutch anyhow. so It defeats the purpose of learning a manual. haha.

Simulates the basics:

"The various inputs of clutch and shifter work with software in the car that cause it to behave like a manual, ICE car, with shift points, simulated engine sounds, and it can even “stall” if you let off the clutch too quickly." 

But I'm doubtful if it can even come close to simulating rev matching /heel toe. Those probably won't be used by L drivers anyway.

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I thought I saw fake manual EV from China in the title and for a while this scene kept pooping up in my mind. :D :D 

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OK back to the topic. If Chery is able to duplicate the exact same clutch feel and stick shift experience entirely through software, I would really take my hat off for them.

End of the day, the problem statement that generate this product is for good environmental cause, and if this car can eliminate vehicular emission problem WITHOUT compromising on learning experience, why not? [thumbsup] 

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haha quite amazing.

Think they got the idea from all their counterfeit products. Haha their classic USB "flash drives"

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34 minutes ago, Turboflat4 said:

Simulates the basics:

"The various inputs of clutch and shifter work with software in the car that cause it to behave like a manual, ICE car, with shift points, simulated engine sounds, and it can even “stall” if you let off the clutch too quickly." 

But I'm doubtful if it can even come close to simulating rev matching /heel toe. Those probably won't be used by L drivers anyway.

U siao siboh..haha. 

U dare to sit nxt to a L driver who heeltoe meh, if u r the instructor?

Lol.. okok. I heeltoe, u ai mai sit beside me but my pedals far far to ea other leh. 

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4 minutes ago, Unfazed said:

U siao siboh..haha. 

U dare to sit nxt to a L driver who heeltoe meh, if u r the instructor?

Lol.. okok. I heeltoe, u ai mai sit beside me but my pedals far far to ea other leh. 

If L driver can heel toe smoothly I'd rather sit next to them than "qualified" drivers who can't lol. 

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(edited)

Whoa, imagine I transfer all the internal components of this electric car and put them in a MX-5 Miata. I will instantly have an electrified Miata that's manual. No need to wait for Mazda to come up with one.

A lot of ppl in the US are doing the same. Cos Miata has a very good platform. So they put Chevy V8s into the small car and now the one I'm watching they are trying to put a Tesla 85D internals into Nissan 350Z. 

So in no time ppl will start tearing such China electric cars apart and put it in sports cars.

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3 minutes ago, Watwheels said:

Whoa, imagine I transfer all the internal components of this electric car and put them in a MX-5 Miata. I will instantly have an electrified Miata that's manual. No need to wait for Mazda to come up with one.

The dynamics of a well balanced manual Miata depend on weight transfer using throttle and brake and even using a clutch kick to provoke an oversteer drift. 

The fake "manual" will do none of these things. 

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1 hour ago, Lala81 said:

haha quite amazing.

Think they got the idea from all their counterfeit products. Haha their classic USB "flash drives"

The ones that show you 32 GB

but really only 4 GB?

:grin:

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Turbocharged

Nothing new. China is doing what they are best at.

Look at this Michelin tyre copycat. You can even request for customisation to imprint the Michelin logo on the tyre sidewall.

Anyone heard of this "Japan technology" Rasakutire? 😁

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