Toyota Patents Fake Sequential Gearbox For Electric LFA
Toyota has filed a patent application describing how an electric car can simulate a manual transmission; it could be something we see on the all-electric Lexus LFA expected to arrive in 2027. The system relies on torque control rather than a clutch, and it could tie into the paddle shifters already shown on the LFA Concept.
The application lays out how an EV can recreate the jolt of a sequential gearbox. The patent describes software that modulates electric motor torque across a defined window to imitate the sensation of gear changes. That software controls when and how power is delivered to the wheels, standing in for a conventional transmission.
The system is built around a brief torque cut. In a simulated shift, motor torque is dropped to zero and then brought back, at times overshooting the target figure momentarily to recreate the snap a clutch makes as it re-engages under load.
Drivers would reportedly be able to choose between settings, among them sport and race profiles, that vary the bite of those torque cuts.
Toyota's filing states the reasoning directly: working a clutch can trip up drivers used to automatics, and the majority of EV buyers will have had scant experience with a genuine manual. That reflects earlier patent work, which outlined a simulated manual using a pseudo clutch pedal and warned that such a layout could prove awkward for drivers unfamiliar with one.
Removing the pedal also brings a performance benefit. The patent notes that doing away with the clutch permits faster shifts, bringing the feel closer to how a true sequential gearbox performs on track.
Lexus fitted steering-wheel paddles to the LFA Concept revealed in 2025, shown first as the Lexus Sport Concept at Monterey Car Week and later at the Japan Mobility Show.
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