Do electric cars have gears?

Remember the maxim that more gears are better? Electric vehicles are… different.

Conventional combustion-engined vehicles mostly have upwards of six drive gear ratios today, while some older models could only have four or five – while newer transmissions may go up to 10. (So far, none have turned it up to 11… although Honda has a patent!)

But, most electric cars only have one gear – officially labelled a ‘single-speed transmission’ – so why is this the case?