What’s the point?
Ford’s patent application does offer one prospective use case that has at least some functionality — changing drive modes — but even that is surely better accomplished by a mechanism that takes up less space in your center console. Even within that use case, though, this stick is routinely referred to as a shifter. Shifting is simply not an experience that benefits EVs, not something they need to drag forward from the era of internal combustion.
EVs are like vegan food. They’re fantastic when taken as they are — who doesn’t love falafel? — but they’re poor imitators when they try to be something they’re not. Let EVs be EVs, and they’ll wow you with power uninterrupted power delivery and one-pedal driving — experiences no ICE vehicle can match. Interrupt what makes them great in service of bringing back feelings from the Good Ol Days, though, and you’ll find a whole that’s less than the sum of its parts.
