Overhaulin'

Will i be able to buy a hybrid or electric car (ie chevy volt) with a stick shift (manual trans)?

i love manual transmission, but i want to get a green car sometime in the next 4 years. are these things mutually exclusive?

Public Comments

1. If you want an environmentally friendly car with a manual transmission you have two options: a diesel (burning vegetable oil of course) or a gasoline car that has been converted to electric. New electric cars will not be available with manuals, because there will really be no need for them. Electric motors make 100% of their torque at 0rpm, so gear reductions are not necessary.
2. Well, there ARE manual-transmission hybrids (the Insight). And the electric Tesla Roadster has a clutchless manual transmission. So there have already been some, and there will probably be more. CVTs will almost definitely be more common, but on performance-oriented models, I wouldn't bet on manuals going away any time soon. Oh, and electrics don't need gear REDUCTION, but they CAN use gears to give them longer "legs" at high speed.
3. Electric cars with AC drive don't need to shift gears. Because of the efficiency they can use a single speed gear box, no shifting required. AC drive is being used on all production electric cars for that reason. Even the Tesla Roadster is switching from a 2 speed gearbox to a single speed. A DC drive conversion vehicle does require 1 gear change between 40 and 60 MPH and since they still use the original manual transmission it's possible. Many don't even use the clutch since the electric motor can actually stop and has less rotational inertia. An Internal Combustion Engine must run at a minimum RPM so some method has to be provided to disconnect the engine from the wheels at a stoplight.