{"id":28352,"date":"2021-11-29T11:45:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T15:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=28352"},"modified":"2021-11-29T11:45:33","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T15:45:33","slug":"payne-dodge-drops-hellcat-v8-previews-new-age-of-electric-muscle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2021\/11\/payne-dodge-drops-hellcat-v8-previews-new-age-of-electric-muscle","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Dodge drops Hellcat V8, previews new age of electric Muscle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Era of Electrification has claimed its first big scalp.<\/p>\n

Dodge is ending production of its iconic, V8-powered Hellcat Challenger and Charger muscle cars models by 2023 as the brand transitions to a mix of electrified EV, hybrid, and plug-in drivetrains in the face of government regulations forcing battery-powered vehicles. The high horsepower, supercharged hemi engines have defined the brand for the last six years, driving an increase in sales as Dodge stuffed Hellcat V8s into everything from its muscle cars to the three-row Durango SUV.<\/p>\n

The Charger and Challenger models, however, will remain in the lineup as the Hellcats pass into history. The news amps up the pressure on Dodge\u2019s first so-called eMuscle electric car, due early next year in prototype form, to deliver on its promise of a new era of Tesla-like, electric performance.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPeople are really nervous about (electrification),\u201d Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis said in an interview at the Los Angeles Auto Show. \u201c(But) power isn\u2019t going away. Muscle isn\u2019t going away. We’re going to show a concept of our all-electric muscle car. We\u2019re going to show it in about four months. We\u2019re going to show you what it can do . . . and redefine American muscle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reaction to Dodge\u2019s announcement ending the sizzling, supercharged V-8s from the enthusiast community was met with a mix of rage, disbelief, and resignation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHellcat production is sadly going to end in 2023,\u201d moaned enthusiast publication Car and Driver of the Hellcat engines that delivered between 707 and 840 horsepower. \u201cYou have two years left to buy a Hellcat. We won’t let the Hellcat’s rambunctious whine of its supercharger be forgotten by the whispering whir of electric motors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wrote Hellcat_Red on the SRT Hellcat Forum: \u201cSeems like we are close to say good bye at the most legendary American muscle car. Really sad the future that is coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot happy with this forced EV situation. Guess I need to order a Redeye before it\u2019s too late,\u201d added\u00a0\u201cS8ER01Z\u201d in reference to the 797-horsepower V-8 Challenger model..<\/p>\n

\u201c2024 will be the new plug-in stuff, no thanks,\u201d said Caddy59.<\/p>\n

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The Hellcat lineup \u2014 paired with ringleader Kuniskis\u2019s over-the-top marketing instincts \u2014 has driven a brand sensation. Despite being built on two-decade-old platforms, the sinister looking Challenger and Charger vaulted over Camaro in Detroit\u2019s muscle car race and is challenging Mustang for #1. They are best-sellers in the coveted California market. Dodge web traffic has been epic despite its relatively low sales volume \u2014 across three models \u2014 compared to megabrands like Chevrolet and Ford.<\/p>\n

The move to electrification challenges the brand\u2019s devil-may-care personality.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a world where everyone is obsessed with making everything better for the environment, the Challenger just doesn’t care. It doesn’t care what people think or say about it,\u201d wrote HotCar.com earlier this year. \u201cFans of the Challenger do not want a hybrid powertrain or an electric SUV model. What they want is a fire-breathing muscle car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dodge isn\u2019t the only brand grappling with electrification\u2019s challenge to a carefully-manicured image.<\/p>\n

Porsche has been clear that it will not electrify \u00a0its iconic 911 supercar, the brand\u2019s touchstone. Instead, it has moved into battery power with the Porsche Taycan sedan and Taycan Cross-Turismo. It has already felt the sting of trying to accommodate MPG concerns in its performance cars \u2014\u00a0when it\u00a0replaced its Cayman\/Boxster sports cars\u2019 screaming 6-cylinder engine with a 4-cylinder, the models lost half their U.S. sales.<\/p>\n

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Ford, too, has been careful to not to fiddle with its V-8 secret sauce. When the Blue Oval used its Mustang performance brand to introduce its first EV,\u00a0it chose an all-new Mach E SUV while leaving the fire-breathing\u00a0Mustang coupe alone with its gas-engine lineup.<\/p>\n

Patrick Rall, a writer with StellPower.com, is influential in the muscle car community and a Hellcat owner himself. Like Porsche and Mustang, he thinks Dodge recognizes the purity of its V-8 Challenger muscle car and will choose to electrify the Charger sedan.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike the Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S Plaid, it makes sense for Dodge to explore the sedan space,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to be the best, you have to take on the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

CEO Kuniskis is aware he is playing with fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m juggling knives because I’ve gotta\u2019 keep two different huge factions happy because at some point those two factions will converge,\u201d he told Motor Trend at the LA Show, referencing customers who will embrace electrification and those who want his brand\u2019s signature V-8 and V-6 power. \u201cThe problem is no one knows when they will converge. My job is to provide confidence, over the next 24 months, that we’re gonna\u2019 do this.”<\/p>\n

Industry insiders say that the EPA-forced change to electrification is fraught with danger, pointing to the 1970s when federal MPG standards tripped up Detroit automakers.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe \u201970s were the Dark Ages of the auto industry,\u201d said Karl Baer, industry analyst with ISeeCars, recalling models like the 1974-78 Ford Mustang II that scaled back on performance to meet MPG concerns. Reviled by purists, the Mustang II is rarely seen in Woodward Dream Cruise parades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe older cars were better than the new ones in the 1970s,\u201d said Brauer. \u201cThere were big changes, big government mandates. I hope that doesn\u2019t happen again and we\u2019re more technologically advanced this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

For its part, Dodge seems to be assembling a diverse lineup of drivetrains beyond the EV debuting early next year.<\/p>\n

Built on an all-new platform beginning in 2024 to accommodate electrified powertrains\u00a0\u2014\u00a0which The Detroit News first reported in 2019 \u2014\u00a0the Challenger and Charger, say experts, will likely get hybrid and plugin drivetrains utilizing a hybrid ZF transmission recently contracted by Stellantis.<\/p>\n

Brauer said Dodge\u2019s small size and unique image affords corporate parent Stellantis room to experiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cDodge profits are a sliver of total revenue,\u201d he said. \u201cSo the risk of remaking Dodge is less than, say, the volume Jeep brand. If Dodge can remake Hellcat power with the right kind of car, then it will help a certain percentage of traditional buyers to give electrification a try.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dodge has been here before when it developed the Dodge Dart to meet Obama Administration requirements that the new Fiat-Chrysler alliance make a 40 mpg car. The Dart was manufactured from 2013-2016 before it died due to poor sales.<\/p>\n

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Significantly, Stellantis is not toying with its V8-powered formula in its high-volume Jeep brand. The Jeep Grand Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer were both launched on all-new platforms this year and both boast optional normally-aspirated, 5.7-liter V-8s in addition to standard V-6s.<\/p>\n

As Dodge accelerates towards its new era in 2024, Kuniskis said the brand will roll out a series of teasers to keep customers engaged.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we say we\u2019re going to electrification in 24 months it would have been easy to go quiet. We don\u2019t do anything quiet, we don\u2019t so anything subtle,\u201d he smiled. \u201cWe put out a calendar, . . . there\u2019s 24 doors and those doors are going to open every couple of months or so. We\u2019ll show our full electric plan as we get to the end, and we’ll show (gas-engine) stuff along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dodge has already teased a new Jailbreak package on its Charger and Challenger Redeye models that allow buyers to customize them for $995. And it\u2019s shown an EV logo called the \u201cfratzog\u201d \u2014\u00a0a made-up word for the triangle arrangement of three arrowhead shapes used by the brand in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come up to me all the time and they say: \u2018Hey, you\u2019re the Dodge guy, you\u2019re gonna be totally opposed to EVs. What are you doing? Are you selling out?\u2019\u201d said Kuniskis. \u201cI say, no, performance isn\u2019t going away.\u00a0There are some really cool innovative things we can do with electrification.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Era of Electrification has claimed its first big scalp. Dodge is ending production of its iconic, V8-powered Hellcat Challenger and Charger muscle cars models by 2023 as the brand transitions to a mix of electrified EV, hybrid, and plug-in drivetrains in the face of government regulations forcing battery-powered vehicles. The high horsepower, supercharged hemi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28352"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28352"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28353,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28352\/revisions\/28353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}