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> none of the cars have had physical gear selectors

what do you need a gear selector for? There is only one gear: “Single-speed fixed (9:1 ratio)”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_3

"Gear selector" is an anachronism. Most modern gear selectors are entirely electronic on newer cars. What I'm talking about is a physical, permanent fixture that is used to change the car's transmission state into/from park, reverse, neutral, and forward (drive). You still will occasionally need to do this in an EV, for instance, in the case of an electrical failure and you need to push the vehicle out of the way of traffic. Or literally just backing out of your driveway.

Seems sort of pedantic to say "what do you need a gear selector for," obviously I'm not talking about an H-pattern and a clutch.

In the case of electrical failure, wouldn't most newer cars fail to change modes even with a physical switch since the mode selector does not have a physical linkage?

In the case of an EV with electrical failure, no change in mode would be needed to physically push the vehicle since there is not a transmission lockout, right?

That argument works pretty well for any automatic, not just the EVs that only have a single speed transmission. There are still four modes to select, even if there is only one forward speed.

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