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After decades of being known as the car maker that sold ‘whitegoods on wheels’ Toyota has emerged as an unlikely saviour for performance cars in an electric future. The Japanese giant is developing an all-new performance electric vehicle (EV) under its Gazoo Racing (GR) sub-brand that not only produces an ‘engine noise’ but will have a manual gearbox with clutch pedal.
Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda has taken a personal interest in the development of this so-called ‘BEV GR’, according to a report from Britain’s Autocar. Toyoda spoke to the media at the recent Le Mans 24-hours and explained that the radical new electric car is being developed to see if such a vehicle can be fun and engaging to drive, in the same way as its GR Yaris, GR Corolla and GR 86.
“The starting point is not what powertrain the car has, but how fun it is to drive regardless of that powertrain,” Toyoda told Autocar. “I actually had the opportunity to test drive a BEV GR we are working on recently. I don’t know if that car will make it onto the market yet, but the first priority of making these kinds of cars is that they need to be fun to drive, no matter what powertrain they use.”
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While there are limited technical details for this BEV GR prototype, Toyoda revealed that it will feature a number of elements designed to make it feel like a conventional, internal combustion engine, manual-gearbox performance car.
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“The biggest difference to other BEVs we are developing is that, when you are in the GR BEV, you can actually hear the engine noises, even if you can’t smell gasoline,” Toyoda said. “There is also a manual transmission and also a clutch. If you put someone in the car and asked them to drive it and guess the powertrain, they probably wouldn’t be able to tell you.”
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Exactly what he means by a “manual transmission” is unclear, as EVs typically only require a single-speed transmission. It’s likely to be a simulated transmission, similar to what Hyundai is developing for its upcoming Ioniq 5 N and tested in the RN22e we drove last year. This system adds an artificial power cut that limits power delivery until you select the next ‘gear’ via the paddle shift. Toyota has seemingly taken that concept to the next level by adding a clutch pedal.
Toyota hasn’t given up on internal combustion performance cars though, telling Torquecafe.com earlier this year that it is working on a range of carbon neutral fuels – including liquid hydrogen fuel – to keep its relatively-new line-up of GR hero models both fast and emotionally appealing with engine noise.
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