Hyundai's already launched this feature in the Ioniq 5 N"I like the way they think—that's the way we think as well," van Meel told Top Gear. While EVs don't needfor reasons of functionality, simulating gear shifts could be useful for giving drivers feedback of what a car is doing during track sessions, he said."In a pure EV with one gear, no sound and no emotion, you don't know if you're doing 120, 150, or whatever," van Meel said.
"We've been working on this for some years already and I think we have some very interesting approaches," van Meel said. However, Hyundai has beaten BMW to the punch by bringing artificial shifting to market with the Ioniq 5 N. Toyota has gone a step further and patented a completeVan Meel also approves of the concept of artificial engine noises.