From Mercedes-Benz to Tesla, why has the column-mounted gear selector become the "new favorite" of luxury cars and electric vehicles?

Have you noticed that the column shifter, which was previously only available in many luxury cars, has now become a "standard feature" in many new energy vehicles. According to relevant data statistics in 2024, among the passenger car models launched in the Chinese mainland, the proportion of column shifters has even reached 62%.

Although there have always been different "voices" about the column shifter, the fact that more and more people are accepting this design also shows its rationality. So, is it really a good thing for new cars to "embrace" the column shifter? What impact does this change have on users? Next, let's take a closer look.

The History and Present of the Column Shifter

Before discussing whether the "popularization" of the column shifter is a good thing, we need to know what a column shifter is.

The so - called column shifter is actually a form of gear lever arrangement in cars. There are two forms of gear lever arrangement in cars: the floor shifter and the column shifter. When the gear lever is located at the lower right of the steering wheel (or on the steering column below the steering wheel), and the gear lever needs to be moved towards the body when shifting gears, it is called a column shifter.

From the perspective of its development history, this advantage can also be regarded as the reason why car manufacturers began to favor the column shifter. In 1938, Pontiac, a brand under General Motors in the United States, launched the world's first car model with a column shifter for gear shifting.

At that time, American - made cars were obsessed with the "big sofa" and the aesthetics of the cockpit. This design just met the needs of consumers at that time.

However, before the appearance of automatic transmissions, the manual column shifter did have relatively obvious disadvantages. Its mechanical structure determined that the column shifter solution either required the gearbox to be closer to the shifting mechanism or a more complex connection mechanism to control the gearbox. Although it saved the space in the passenger compartment, it needed to expand the space in the engine compartment to accommodate more connecting devices, which seemed a bit of a waste.

Fortunately, after the popularization of automatic transmissions later, the automatic gearbox well solved this "fly in the ointment".

After that, Mercedes - Benz gave it a boost. Mercedes - Benz attached great importance to the US market at that time and also pursued more elegance and simplicity in interior design. The column shifter could just meet such a design concept without occupying the space of the control center island.

So, Mercedes - Benz made the column shifter one of the "labels" of luxury brands, making the operation mode of "pulling down for D, pushing up for R, and pressing for P" deeply rooted in people's hearts. Coupled with the fact that Mercedes - Benz's electronic column shifter was more user - friendly than General Motors' mechanical column shifter at that time, it also increased many people's favor for the column shifter.

However, since the electronic gear lever is not mechanically and rigidly connected to the gearbox but transmits signals through electrical signals, the electronic and electrical architecture needs to be redesigned. Therefore, the initial cost of this design is relatively high, and it was only an exclusive configuration for many high - end models in the early days.

Why is the Column Shifter So Popular?

Of course, the column shifter really started to become popular during the period when Tesla led electric vehicles into thousands of households.

In 2012, Tesla's first mass - produced model, the Model S, was released. It used the same electronic column shifter as Mercedes - Benz and began to associate the column shifter with ordinary users.

The reason why Tesla made such an innovation in electric vehicles was mainly because users at that time had higher requirements for the interior space of the car and the interaction experience of the driver. The electronic column shifter was obviously a good solution.

Different from the relatively complex gear - shifting design of fuel - powered cars, in the new energy era, the structure of the power system is significantly simpler. The power transmission is directly controlled by the motor, and gear - shifting is just to control the forward or reverse rotation of the motor. Therefore, more and more car manufacturers no longer rely on the past gear - shifting layout but use the more convenient and intelligent column shifter to improve driving interaction and cockpit space.

From the perspective of the operation process, after using the electronic column shifter, the vehicle is automatically unlocked and powered on when approaching. After getting in the car and fastening the seat belt, stepping on the brake pedal and gently pulling the gear lever can start the vehicle. When getting off the car, step on the brake pedal and press the P gear at the same time. After unfastening the seat belt and leaving the car, the vehicle is automatically powered off and locked. This obviously meets the expectations of new energy vehicle users for the driving experience.

Moreover, in the era of assisted driving, the triggering method of the column shifter is also easier for people to adapt to.

For example, during driving, you only need to pull the gear lever down twice continuously to activate NOA. For models with a center - console gear - shifting mechanism, you need to press a button on the steering wheel or use a third lever to achieve this function, which is obviously much more troublesome.

Is the Column Shifter Safe Enough?

With the increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the column shifter is being accepted by more and more users, which has also promoted it to become a "standard feature" in many new cars.

However, this does not mean that people have no concerns. After all, there are still many influences of inherent concepts and personal habits. So, another question arises: Is the column shifter safe enough?

Many people will worry when they first come into contact with the column shifter. What if they accidentally touch the column shifter during driving? Won't accidental touching easily lead to safety hazards? In fact, this kind of worry is normal. The column shifter is designed on the steering wheel, and there is indeed a possibility of accidental touching.

However, most car manufacturers have considered this and avoided it at the beginning of the design. At present, the electronic control units (ECUs) of many new cars have strict gear - shifting logic. When the vehicle is driving in D or R gear (at a speed higher than extremely low speed, such as 5 - 10 km/h), even if the driver accidentally moves the column shifter, the system will determine that the operation is invalid or require additional confirmation (such as long - pressing or stepping on the brake for confirmation). It will never directly switch to P gear (which will cause serious mechanical damage) or R gear (shifting to reverse while moving forward is also dangerous) during driving. Simply put, this is actually a logical lock, which can fundamentally solve the problem.

Moreover, new cars with column shifters often have multiple confirmation steps. You can't just shift gears casually.

For example, to shift from D gear to R gear, the vehicle usually needs to be almost stopped (or at an extremely low speed) and the brake needs to be stepped on. Shifting to P gear generally requires the vehicle to be completely stopped and the brake to be stepped on, which can undoubtedly better ensure the safety of everyone's operation.

In addition, the column shifter nowadays emits electronic signals instead of direct mechanical instructions. There is a verification mechanism in the signal transmission and processing process. The system will comprehensively judge the validity of the instruction based on various sensor information such as vehicle speed, brake status, and door status.

So, car manufacturers have electronic signal redundancy in this regard. There is no need to worry about its safety at all. In fact, the risk of accidental triggering of the column shifter is even lower than that of the traditional mechanical gear lever, which may have "force - based accidental gear - shifting".

Conclusion

Behind the popularization of any design is the fact that car owners find it useful. Just like the column shifter didn't become popular for no reason. From multiple perspectives such as aesthetics, convenience, space, and safety, the column - shifter gear - shifting method is more suitable for new energy vehicles. Therefore, it is normal for it to become popular.

Of course, only a cat knows whether a bed is soft enough. Whether the column shifter is useful also depends on whether users can adapt to it. Do you think it is really a good thing that new cars generally embrace the column shifter nowadays?

This article is from the WeChat official account "Keji Hu" (ID: kejihutv). Author: Lao Hu. Republished by 36Kr with permission.