I moved to an EV from an automatic transmission, and I’m pretty much used to one pedal driving now (using regen to slow down and stop most of the time). No gears at all took awhile to get used to, but now it just seems a better way to drive.
Manual transmissions get a bit stressful on steep hills, and so I don’t really miss them much accordingly.
Yeah EV is the bee's knees. No sudden surprise from some automatic transmission computer deciding to suddenly jolt you for no reason.
And as you say, "engine braking" with an EV is just "press the brake. It'll regen when possible".
In terms of driving comfort, my preference is EV, then manual, then automatic. But I would feel differently if I spent much time in bumper to bumper traffic. That's the one time manual is a bit annoying.
But those that would disagree with me are of course not wrong. To each their own.
Why do you say manual transmission is stressful on steep hills? Oh, you mean like starting from a stopped position going uphill? Yeah, it was a bit tricky to learn, but it's been (no pun intended) automatic for me for decades.
EVs have a mode that start regen as soon as you lay off the pedal, so that’s what I mean by one pedal driving. You still have an explicit brake to slam, you just don’t need to use it very often. BMW has auto H for ICEs, but it’s really not the same.
We have steep hills where I live, and yes you can learn, but your clutch shelf always then have to remember how to stop and restart on a hill.
Manual transmissions get a bit stressful on steep hills, and so I don’t really miss them much accordingly.