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Agreed about the signal stalk. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last I've seen the signal stalk is back in Teslas, at least in Model Y, but I believe in newer Model 3s as well.

But "gear shifter"? It doesn't really require a stalk.

When you start, you select either D or R. Not a big deal.

And when you stop, I think most (all?) EVs even automatically go to P and apply parking brakes when you stop.

I think that already covers 99% of driving for 99% of people.

Tesla is the one that started this and cost who knows how many lives. They are the ones who thought it would be great to re-invent the wheel and then when the moron execs at the other companies saw the hype they had to copy it.

The execs probably got promotions for it considering the money saved. The real morons are the customers buying these cars. Brand loyalists don't buy based on logical reasoning.

What would the gear shifter even do though?

Put it in drive, neutral, park, or reverse. Same as an automatic.

Same as what it did in the original Tesla cars. They only removed the stalks recently.