A suburb of Detroit. The Saturday-night cruises that have been a fixture of American culture for decades will soon be replaced by battery-operated cars.
The Dodge brand, which has been the performance flag-bearer of the company, is moving towards electricity. Dodge unveiled a battery-powered Charger Daytona SRT concept car that is close to one that will be produced in 2024 as the sun sets on some petroleum models.
The Dodge Challenger and the Chrysler 300 large car will no longer be made with gasoline by the end of next year. Electric vehicles will be made at the Canadian factory. The cars are moving in the same direction.
The Chevrolet Corvette will be an electric car. The Model S Plaid version can go from zero to 60 mph in under two seconds. Electric cars are already on sale in Europe. Polestar, an electric- performance spinoff from Volvo, just announced a new car.
Electric vehicles are quicker off the starting line. Their handling is usually better because of their heavy batteries.
Government pollution requirements are one of the factors. As the U.S. faces more stringent fuel-economy requirements, some muscle cars will have to be phased out.
Tim Kuniskis, CEO of the Dodge brand, said the possibility of government fines for not meeting gas-mileage requirements led to the switch to the electric Charger. Compliance fines and big cast-iron supercharged V8s are tough.
It will take a few years for gas-powered classics to disappear.
Sam Abuelsamid, a research analyst at Guidehouse Insights, thinks we will have some internal combustion stuff over the next several years. The focus will soon be on the electric ones.
The fleet of new vehicles will have to average 40 miles per gallon, up from 25.4 miles per gallon, in order to meet the new gas mileage standards. If the U.S.-based automakers are to avoid fines, they will have to sell some of their gasoline muscle cars.
The highest average carbon dioxide emissions and lowest average fuel economy were found in Stellantis. The company may have to eliminate some models. The Charger SRT Widebody with a 6.2-liter Hellcat V-8 gets only 12 miles per gallon in the city and 21 miles per gallon on the highway.
Many gearheads don't like the idea of a muscle car that isn't noisy or smelly. The electric experience is being worked on by Dodge. He said that the Charger will have its own air flow to make an exhaust noise that is similar to a gas performance car. The transmission will start shifting gears.
The electric car that was driven through a garage door and into a building at a racetrack in Michigan was just like a gas muscle car.
The potential of electric vehicles is better than that of gas muscle cars. He said they are not very good. The emotion doesn't exist. The drama does not exist. It doesn't feel like it's in danger when it's loud and moving around.
Kuniskis wouldn't say how fast the electric car would go, but he did say it would be faster than the company's current cars. The range-per-charge for the new Challenger isn't as important as making it a true muscle car according to him.
Rick Nelson, the owner of Musclecar Restoration & Design in Pleasant Plains, Illinois, near Springfield, warned that it may be difficult for old-timers to switch from loud fuel burning engines to quiet electricity.
Nelson said he spent hours at drag strips while he was a teenager. The switch to electricity is necessary to attract a new generation that has become used to quiet. He said that electric muscle cars won't have manual shifters and that he will miss the smell of racing fuel.
Nelson said that businesses are getting into the business of putting electric powertrains in classic muscle cars. He has been in touch with an engineer at the electric car company about making batteries and electric motor classics.
Nelson said that he would frown on electric muscle cars. This isn't about me, it's about other people.
The shift to electricity does not mean the end of the muscle car. There is a new era.
He said it's okay. We're going to show you what the future will look like.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
