Couldn't shift into gear

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jspearman

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 16, 2013
Messages
159
Perhaps this is a fluke, but I spent a harrowing minute in the parking lot of a busy shopping center this morning trying to get the RAV into gear. I've noticed it hesitates before shifting into D sometimes, but I backed up and moved the shift lever and nothing happened. Moved it around a few more times, nothing. Then I pressed the park button and then shifted into drive and it moved, but it was disconcerting.

I have a tendency to shift into drive while I'm still moving backward, and I did so this time, so I'm wondering if my impatient driving habits have something to do with this. I'll report back if I have the issue again. Does anyone notice hesitation when shifting into D?
 
This has happened to my wife a couple times and caused a near panic, but remember this is an electric car and "shifting" is different from an ICE car. There is no clutch, at least not a mechanically operated one. Drive, reverse and park all behave similarly to an ICE but have an electric motor with instantaneous and maximum torque from zero rpm, so it is important to adequately pause between changing transmission modes and insure the car has come to a complete STOP with brake applied. This does not apply to shifting between Drive and "B" and vice versa, but it definitely does when changing from Drive to Reverse and vice versa.
 
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