Methods and apparatus for operating a motor vehicle

An automated transmission comprising:

• a gear shifting member,
• a selector actuating means for moving said gear shifting member along a gear selection direction to at least one selecting position for selecting a gear to be engaged,
• a gear shifting motor arranged and constructed to move said gear shifting member along a shifting direction, which is different from said selecting direction, so as to move the gear shifting member from the at least one selecting position to a gear engaged position, and
• guide means for guiding the movement of the gear shifting member along at least one predetermined path between the at least one selecting position and a gear engaged position, wherein the guide means comprises a guide having a wall defining the at least one predetermined path and a guide member arranged and constructed to slide there along, wherein the guide means is configured such that the gear shifting member is required to move in both the shifting direction and the selecting direction when the gear shifting member is moved from the at least one selecting position to the gear engaged position.

An automated shift transmission comprising:

• a guide designed to enable a guided element to slide or glide there along, the guide defining a gear selecting guide path having a gear selecting direction, which guide path represents a neutral status of the transmission, and a plurality of shifting guide paths each respectively extending between the gear selecting guide path and a respective gear engaged position, at least one shifting guide path of the guide being defined by a wall having a shape that is one of:
• (i) inclined by an acute angle from a shifting direction that is perpendicular to the gear selecting direction or
• (ii) stepped shaped with one leg parallel to the gear selection direction and at least one leg perpendicular thereto,
• such that a gear shifting member is required to move in both the gear selecting direction and the shifting direction to reach the respective gear engaged position from the gear selection guide path.