Do Electric Cars Have Transmissions?

Electric cars do without a lot of parts and procedures that internal combustion engine (ICE) powered cars rely on. EVs, or electric vehicles, are thus much easier to maintain and vastly less expensive to run than ICE vehicles. EVs don’t have camshafts, pistons, rods, and many other standard engine parts, but what about that part that transmits the engine’s power to the wheels? Do electric cars have transmissions? Some don’t, but these days most production EVs do have some sort of gear box, even if it only is a single speed. To learn more about gears on electric cars and electric car transmission info, keep reading! If you have any questions about EVs for your drives between Milford and Smyrna, get in touch with us.

How Many Gears are on Electric Cars?

The reason most EVs don’t need a conventional transmission, with multiple speeds, is that electric motors provide a much wider range of power-producing speeds than conventional engines do. Engines typically produce their torque and useful propulsion when spinning at a certain speed, and while electric motors also follow this to an extent, they start their useful band of torque from a dead stop. This is physically impossible for an unaided engine to do.

Because of this, most EVs do use a gearbox, but only with a single gear. Here’s how the typical electric vehicle powertrain gets you moving:

1. When you step on the accelerator, electricity is sent from the battery to the electric motor.
2. As the motor spins, it also spins the gearbox. The gearbox is what most drivers refer to when they’re talking about the transmission in an electric vehicle.
3. As the electric motor and gearbox spin, your EV will begin to move. Some electric motors can rotate up to 20,000 rpm. By contrast, most internal combustion engines on a vehicle only rotate up to 7,000 rpm.
4. When you put your electric vehicle into reverse, the electric motor essentially spins backward, unlike in a standard vehicle where there’s a separate gear in the transmission so that you move in reverse.

Do You Have to Maintain Electric Car Transmissions?

Fewer parts means less maintenance, less maintenance costs, and less that can go wrong. However, many EV gearboxes still require occasional fluid changes, though generally at a less frequent rate than transmissions in standard vehicles.

Experience an Electric Vehicle Today at Kent County Motors!

Ready to consider an EV of your own? Curious as to how a normal vehicle is maintained? Consider our tips onvehicle maintenance schedules, and what happens when you don’t change your oil. Feel free to visit our showroom near Middletown for more information any time.