[RahulNagaraj]

According to media reports, Dodge CEO, Tim Kuniskis, stated that going further into the age of EVs, the "spirit of performance" won't be going away.

During an event which showcased all of Dodge's current V8 models, alongside the Charger Daytona SRT Concept and plug-in hybrid Hornet R/T crossover, Kuniskis stated that the capabilities of EVs will steadily turn heads and gain a following.



The Dodge CEO stated that the industry was in a similar position in the 1970s when regulations put a shackle on muscle cars. However, he adds that this time around, manufacturers will deliver fun EVs with plenty of punch for speed lovers. Kuniskis mentions, "I get it: Not everybody is adopting to this technology right away, and not everybody will. It will take many years for everybody to, but people will. Early adopters will, and when they see what we can do with this technology, they will start coming along."

He further added, "Eventually people will see that this technology can make something cool and fun. It’s probably going to sound different, but people tuning cars, making cars faster and competing against each other will not go away. People are going to compete. People are going to compete to have a cooler, faster, funner car and it’s not going to change."

Source: Automotive News

Link to Team-BHP news

[parrys]

The Dodge Challenger in all of its iterations is one of the most lovely looking cars for me.

But I am not sure if an *ELECTRIC MUSCLE* car makes sense emotionally.

[E30_325iSport]

CEOs trying to appease shareholders with lofty claims is hardly newsworthy in my view. We all know EVs are one trick ponies. The general aural pandemonium of large-capacity V8s is a massive part of their attraction- to a decidedly niche audience it must be said.
Being pedantic though, one could argue that an EV could qualify as a 'muscle' car, given the instantaneous torque, which, ironically, is what the OEMs have been trying to achieve with large-capacity V8s.
The car in the new item will ultimately end up being a muscle car in copying traditional muscle car design cues, but filled with screens on the inside for the Insta/FaceTok generation- thereby appealing to a wider audience. Probably no bad thing as this generation appears far more switched-on from a sustainability perspective and wouldn't want to be seen dead in a hydrocarbon-belching dinosaur.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by parrys

But I am not sure if an *ELECTRIC MUSCLE* car makes sense emotionally.

Some EVs are a lot of fun, man, and have b-r-u-t-a-l acceleration. Like the Tesla dual-motors. They can murder muscle cars in acceleration runs. Many of them are also a lot of fun to drive.

Muscle cars will also have to go electric for the green image (of the car & maker both), to meet CAFE norms and to give customers what they want. There is a market for electric powertrains in every kind of car, including pickup trucks (case in point = Ford F150 Lightning).

Most importantly, an electric muscle car will ensure the availability of an ICE muscle car. Going forward, the only way for a petrol muscle car to survive is if it has an EV version too.

Originally Posted by E30_325iSport

We all know EVs are one trick ponies.

Even as a diehard lover of ICE engines, I'll disagree. EVs are a lot more than just 1-trick ponies. Fast acceleration, refined driving experience, convenience of charging at home, zero emissions, lesser maintenance etc. Depending on the car budget & size, an EV could be the best choice in the segment. For instance, at 45 - 50 lakhs, I'd pick an Ioniq 5 over most other cars in the category, regardless of EV / Petrol / Diesel. Tell me to choose between a Kia EV6 and a C-Class, and I'd genuinely have to think very hard.

[E30_325iSport]

Originally Posted by GTO

Some EVs are a lot of fun, man, and have b-r-u-t-a-l acceleration. Like the Tesla dual-motors. They can murder muscle cars in acceleration runs. Many of them are also a lot of fun to drive.

Muscle cars will also have to go electric for the green image (of the car & maker both), to meet CAFE norms and to give customers what they want. There is a market for electric powertrains in every kind of car, including pickup trucks (case in point = Ford F150 Lightning).

Most importantly, an electric muscle car will ensure the availability of an ICE muscle car. Going forward, the only way for a petrol muscle car to survive is if it has an EV version too.



Even as a diehard lover of ICE engines, I'll disagree. EVs are a lot more than just 1-trick ponies. Fast acceleration, refined driving experience, convenience of charging at home, zero emissions, lesser maintenance etc. Depending on the car budget & size, an EV could be the best choice in the segment. For instance, at 45 - 50 lakhs, I'd pick an Ioniq 5 over most other cars in the category, regardless of EV / Petrol / Diesel. Tell me to choose between a Kia EV6 and a C-Class, and I'd genuinely have to think very hard.

I disagree that an OEM must make an EV version of the SAME car if it wants to sell an ICE version. An EV Mustang and an ICE Mustang are possible in theory, but in practice this would be a foolhardy exercise as generally, form follows function, not the other way round. An EV powertrain in a car designed to take an ICE would be a suboptimal design as you're not leveraging the packaging advantages of EVs. In principle though I think you have a point, OEMs have to sell these EV blenders-on-wheels if they want to ALSO sell some interesting ICEs. Just like Porsche has to sell a Cayenne to fund its 911s.

Good point about EV refinement, I'd forgotten that and it is a truly transformational experience, especially for run-of-the-mill vehicles that spend a lot of time in urban environs.

[Evyas]

I choose an Uber Green whenever possible. To figure out the real world experiences of regular cab drivers, how they recharge, where, what the maintenance is, how charge drops in bad traffic and full AC etc. to see if I can even think of owning one because I absolutely love the idea of EVs.

The greatest comment I heard about EV Vs ICE was when my wife asked a cab driver how different it is to drive and is it more fun since I had told her about the insane acceleration EVs offer.

'No madam, wo gear nahin hai to Fast and Furious wala feel nahin aata jo mujhey achcha lagta hai..'

I was just thankful that we were in peak Mumbai traffic inside the suburbs and not on the highway where he might have been tempted to show us the lack of F&F moves he craved!

I guess a muscle car version of EVs is what might make them more 'connected' to drivers, maybe give them the 'soul' that seems to be lacking. I know I would love it.

Or maybe soon we'll get just used to their 'soullessness', and the next generation will not be able to understand how we drove cars with clumsy clutches and gears, manual or automatic and not like their refined silent EVs of the future. Kind of like how dial-up modems and even Blackberrys (won't even go into rotary phones) are fascinating for the younger lot in my family!