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.
