Do Electric Vehicles Have Transmissions?

With the increased popularity of electric cars, electric BMWs in particular, many people are asking questions about how they operate. After all, people who grew up always driving in gasoline-powered vehicles may understand the basic operations of how a gasoline powertrain and transmission work, but electric BMW cars are a completely different story.

Here at our BMW parts center, our mechanics are happy to explain how electric cars operate.

Electric Cars and Transmissions

As a general rule, electric vehicles do not have conventional multi-speed transmissions similar to gas-powered cars. Nearly all of them have just a single speed. This is largely due to the fact that electric motors produce their full power as soon as they start to turn and continue producing it over a wide rev range.

The peak power doesn’t sustain, but the motors can rev as high as 20,000 rpm in some electric BMW cars. In contrast, gasoline engines top out around 6,000 or 7,000 rpm and have to be revved up to make their maximum power. Thus, they require more than one speed to operate at low and high road speeds, especially with greater efficiency.

In an electric car, the addition of a multi-speed transmission isn’t worth the extra weight, cost, and complexity, but EVs do still have a transmission of sorts.

Even in EVs that just have one speed, there still exist gears that change the electric motor’s drive-gear ratio and transfer power to a differential, which splits the power between the wheels. Also, they may have a device that locks the car’s gears when the park gear is engaged.

Electric cars are complex, but our dealers and mechanics at BMW of Wesley Chapel are happy to explain how they work. Stop by our dealership for more information.