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Old 07-24-2013, 11:32 AM   #2 (permalink)
P-hack
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Join Date: Oct 2012
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awesomer - '04 Toyota prius
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while reading some of the comments on the tesla forum, it is disheartening to hear the rank distaste and outright misinformation on using more than a single speed gearbox.

Most are outright oblivious as to what makes a machine efficient as far as I can tell, but for most motors the efficiency is largely a function of load (true for electric and ICE), and a higher gear that provides more engine load is going to help at higher speed, and a lower gear is going to help with hills and acceleration, and just having some ratio options means smaller motors (easier to load) and batteries for typical driving.
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