The gear lever in some cars features the letter “E” on the knob, but most drivers don’t even know what it does.
While everyone knows that “R” stands for “reverse,” the letter “E” remained a mystery for a long time to many drivers of manual cars. Now, we finally have an answer.
Found in many older cars, especially from the 1980s, the letter “E” stands for “economy,” according to the website Supercar Blondie. When shifting into “E,” the car can save a bit of fuel, as it keeps engine revs lower.
Today, it is difficult to find this option in modern cars, even in manuals, since more efficient engines have made the “E” gear obsolete. In fact, it was an option with a relatively short lifespan.
Nowadays, most modern cars are produced with automatic transmissions and, as part of a recent trend, some of them no longer even feature a traditional gear lever, instead using a button to select gears.
This shows how the automotive market continues to advance at an impressive pace. In just a few years, features that were once present in every car have become unnecessary and have been replaced by more modern alternatives.
We will likely continue to see this shift in future vehicle releases. As new technologies emerge at increasingly faster speeds, what we now consider a modern car will soon become outdated.
Photo: Wikimedia. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
