Stick drive simulator
Just posting this so that in 20 years I can say I had the idea first…
Electric car motors are generally direct transmission (without gears) because they are effective over a much wider range than internal combustion (IC) engines. As a result they have a much smoother acceleration, no transmitted pulse from the individual strokes of the engine, and most importantly: no gear shift. I think that some nostalgics will miss the feel of a manual gear shift IC driving, but with complex motor control circuits it will only need a software upgrade to implement a stick drive simulator.
Stick-Simulator ™ details:
- The package will include a software upgrade for the on-board control system adding the Stick-Simulator option to the drive profiles
- The package will also include a gear stick and clutch pedal which can be installed in most vehicles with a modern equivalent of today’s USB interface to interface with the on-board control systems.
- When the Stick-Simulator drive profile is activated it will:
- Pulse the electric motor to simulate the strokes of an IC motor. The pulses will be the same as if
- Reduce the engine torque to that of an IC motor at the speed/gear (virtual gear that is) you are currently in
- Simulated stall if the simulated RPM of the engine is too low
- Advanced packages may also include:
- Speakers and amplifiers to simulate the motor sound
- An electromagnetic vibrator to simulate engine vibrations in the car
- An exhaust pipe stub with exhaust simulation
- Push-start mode where you have to push the car to a required speed, drop the clutch and hope the engine fires…
- Profiles may include
- Simulation of various motor types, from highly tuned sports cars to back-firing old timers
- Simulation of automatic and semi-automatic transmission IC engines.
- Simulation of specific engine quirks: pre-heating for a diesel before starting, choke for old petrol engines, …
Why am I not patenting the idea? Because I can’t be bothered. Chances of me actually marketing the idea are very slim, but if I put it out in the public domain now, maybe one day someone will make it happen, and then I can claim some credit for it. 