The question I posed was, with governments across the world intent on phasing out gasoline-powered cars for environmental reasons, what (if anything) would you miss about them? When your grandkids ask what it was like driving back in the Stone Age, what will you tell them? And what, if anything, should be preserved in the era of electric cars?

It’s the demise of manual transmission, which EVs don’t need, that got me pondering the question. A few readers agreed that they’ll miss stick shifts.

By far the most common response, though, related in some way to the purr, rumble, roar — lots of flowery words to choose from here — of the engine. Electric cars just don’t do that, though some simulate engine sounds, and readers said they would miss it — some who love the sound and others who appreciate the way it helps warn pedestrians and cyclists of nearby cars.

”I will miss the thrilling and exhilarating sound of the tuned exhaust note of an American muscle car!” said Ralph Upchurch. “Though not as visceral, the Euro-whine of an accelerating Ferrari will also be recalled fondly.”

”Revving my V8 at the red light,” said Bill Reilly.”I love the sound of running through the gears, the engine singing its throaty song, as I execute perfectly-timed ‘heel and toe’ downshifts, engine revs matching perfectly as I glide smoothly to a stop at the next stop sign or traffic light,” said Robert G. Atkinson Jr. “The day the government comes to take that away from me is the day you pry my cold, dead fingers from the steering wheel!”

Ray Orfan, though, considers the loss of engine noise a sacrifice worth making.

”As far as missing something, I think of the beautiful sounds some gasoline cars make, but the joy of driving electric makes that an easy thing to dismiss,” said Orfan, a self-described “car nut” who now drives a Tesla.John Lisker said the noise is important for safety reasons, and EVs need to replicate it somehow. “Whenever moving, a real EV should generate modest engine noise outside, for the safety of both pedestrians and bicyclists,” he wrote.

Aside from the safety aspect, why exactly does engine sound — and the absence of it in EVs — touch such a nerve? Ying Chen sent an interesting observation that might explain some of the psychology at work:

“Have you noticed that the whole “performance” aspect of driving is mostly missing from marketing and conversations around EVs … despite the fact that EVs actually get great acceleration compared to gas cars of a similar price point?

There’s a basic human experience reason for that. EV are fast, but they don’t feel fast. The “feeling” of speed is actually the deep low frequency sounds of engine acceleration and subtle vibrations from a “refined, smooth” engine. Humans are sensory creatures, not accelerometers. We’re far more in tune with touch and sound than the acceleration actually felt from the G-force, which is pretty limited in day-to-day driving. EVs provide only the latter, with only a whisper at the opposite, higher frequencies when it comes to sound. Apart from that, all you hear is the airflow outside, which then takes over because your ears are attuned to any sound source.”

Moving on. The second most common answer to the what-will-you-miss-about-gas-cars question was …“Nothing,” said Keith Westgate.

“Nothing,” said Helene Mayer.

”I can’t think of anything,” said Hugh McGinness.

”Won’t miss anything,” said Alan Spatrick.

Others rejected the premise of the question — gas cars “will still be prevalent in 30 years,” predicted Tom Prince — or pointed out practical downsides to EVs versus gas cars. The functionality of your gas car doesn’t rely on the electric grid, for instance. “How am I going to charge my car in an old farmhouse with a 60 amp service, old wiring? Or drive out in the sticks where there aren’t any charging stations?” wrote Scott Oehme.

”You trust our politicians and utilities to upgrade the power grid for us all to drive EVs?” asked a skeptical Bill Griffith (a former Globe journalist).

Finally, Joseph Nagarya wrote that if Toyota can devise a fake manual transmission to give drivers who miss it the “feel” of a gas car in their EV, perhaps it can devise other faux technologies to replicate the experience of the internal combustion engine.

”Can’t Toyota add simulated pollution for us lung-damaged bicyclists nostalgic for the good old days?” he wrote.

This is an excerpt from Are we there yet?, a Globe Opinion newsletter about the future of transportation in the region. Sign up to get it in your inbox a day early.

---

Alan Wirzbicki is Globe deputy editor for editorials. He can be reached at [email protected].