Dodge gives drag racers a reason to embrace electric muscle cars

(Bloomberg) — Tim Kuniskis, Head of Dodge Brands at Stellantis , which runs non-stop marketing marathons, testing the endurance of the most seasoned auto industry executives.

First, muscle car Challenger and his top evangelist for Charger briefed reporters at the company's design dome in Auburn Hills, Michigan. I was. He then hooked up with his YouTube stars of his drag racing before the Dodge-sponsored race weekend. Then he hosted product launches for three nights in a row, all building up to a moment of truth. That's when Dodge announced the Charger Daytona SRT, an all-electric muscle car.

Kuniskis says the roaring aerodynamic beast with an 800-volt battery looks a lot like the production car that Dodge will bring to market in 2024. There are many concerns about how this car will relate to the brand's core drag racing fans. So Dodge did his best to recreate the experience of revving his V-8 engine with the instantaneous torque of about 700 lbs battery.

Some drag racers see electric cars as the product of regulators who frown on engines with over 800 horsepower and the greenhouse gases they emit. there is There is also the threat that EVs will rob sports of human creativity.

Dodge Speed ​​As one young drag racer who attended his fest explained, someone had a lot of money just to beat them with a Tesla Model S Plaid that came right off the showroom floor. of money to build your own car and tune it for peak performance. on the strip. There's no point in customizing your hot rod when the $130,000 plunger shows up.

Kuniskis is doing its best to fight commoditization. Most EVs on the road today are single-speed, but the Charger Daytona has a multi-speed his transmission with electronic and mechanical shifts that allows the driver to physically propel the car. You can feel connected to the power. He also wants customization to live on.

BEV chargers feature "slam" and "doughnut" modes that owners can unlock by purchasing components from branded aftermarket parts units. Offers. Dodge brought back a unit called the Direct Connection earlier this year. This is also to assure the fanbase that they will continue to support the hobby after the last gas-powered muscle car rolls off the line next year.

Muscle Of all the things that set him apart from the "nothing" sedans Kerr likes to tease Kuniskis, there are two things that Dodge just can't mess with. Power and sound. He hasn't spoken about the Daytona's specs yet, but the company says it will be faster than his Hellcat model, which has over 700 horsepower.

“If they are going to jump into this electric game, they need to be electric kings. said Herman Young, who runs the channel and attended a festival in Pontiac, Michigan this week.

Young says he's not resisting the EV revolution — his wife drives a Model Y — but he's an EV How quiet is and wistful when talking about what this entails. Means muscle brotherhood.

"Humans, we equate speed with sound, and until we get used to that coordination, it will take away some of the excitement," he said. "Sound is power in the times we grew up in."

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Kuniskis has the answer, too. Dodge engineers took the V8 engine's firing order and used it to create a sound that was amplified by the air forced out of the chamber exhaust system. The result is a cybernetic his jaguar-like electronic grunt, with low idling sounds and high-pitched screeches when the car comes to a stop.

"Every sound and multi-speed transmission opens up as many questions as it answers." S&P Global Mobility analyst attending Dodge event this year said her Stephanie Brinley. week. "Most importantly, 'We will continue to be a muscle car. We will continue to provide that intuitive response. It will definitely evoke the emotions of today's cars.'