2024 (ish) Challenger reveal during Dodge Speed Week?

[Louis-Stang]

Hopefully they’ll make there EVs look like the cars that they are replacing. Unlike what Ford did with the Mach E.

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[Stonehauler]

Hopefully they’ll make there EVs look like the cars that they are replacing. Unlike what Ford did with the Mach E.

They have to look like the Challenger or Charger. If they put out a SUV named Challenger, it would be a waste.

I get what Ford did, but when (not if) Ford makes an EV Mustang, it's gotta look the part.

 

[shogun32]

If Dodge thinks their numbers are going to significantly better than Ford's they have a wake-up call coming. >80% hair-cut in production? Yeah that'll really work in the boardroom!

https://fordauthority.com/2022/08/ford-motor-company-sales-numbers-figures-results-july-2022-usa/
The July production numbers are admittedly early days but hardly encouraging on EV/Hybrid takeup except for the Maverick which is understandable since it's a cheap city runabout and the cost premium is modest, and hybrid appeals to the 'city' set.

What's bad is how E-Transit is doing - the perfect use case for BEV and yet... Even PowerBoost which is a "modest" $8000 premium on a $50,000 truck is hardly taking the world by storm. Could it be a $2000 genset sitting in the bed is vastly more useful?

E-Transit: 526 / 7466 = 7%
Maverick: 2,153 / 6,720 = 32%
F-150 Lighning: 2,173 / 63,341 = 3.4%
F-150 PowerBoost: 4,364 / 63,341 = 6.9%
MachE: 4970 / (10621+ 17,673 + 9,854 + 4970) = 11.5%

The publicity stunt Ford did by sending PowerBoost was pathetic. Send a bed full of portable Westinghouse 20KVa portable units and some fuel drums instead of the sad 7KVa the truck comes with.

 

[Hack]

Yeah I expect car companies are going to have a lot of problems here in the US if they switch over to EV too quickly. I think if I owned a car company right now I would sell.

And especially Charger/Challenger - I don't really think the people who buy those cars and the people who want fuel efficiency are in the same group. Heck, I prefer a fuel efficient car, but I don't want an EV either. They just aren't very good yet.

 

[Skye]

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/15/dodge-challenger-charger-to-be-discontinued-in-2023.html

No surprises on 2024 and EVs in the above article.

I was however taken aback to read the following:

"Dodge is launching a litany of special vehicles and products to “celebrate” the end of the cars as they are today. Dodge’s plans include seven special-edition, or “buzz,” models; a commemorative “Last Call” under-hood plaque for all 2023 model-year vehicles; and a new dealer allocation process, among other measures.

The new dealer process will see Dodge allocate 2023 Charger and Challenger models to lots all at once, instead of making orders available throughout the year. Dodge will provide customers a guide to locate specific models at each dealership."

I'm not so sure the above is such a good idea. I can't see a horde of people descending on dealers throughout the US using the phrase, "After you." "Oh no, I couldn't. Please, you first."

 

[Ace]

They are totally cashing in everything they got with the last ICE models. Guess there will be an insane run on these cars with crazy dealer markups

 

[Cobra Jet]

That's what the general public said about horses and buggies during the turn of the 20th century.

Well, it's easier cleaning up horseshit and hosing off dust from a buggy - it's quite a much larger problem trying to mine materials for EV batteries and destroying the earth while doing so, recycling EV batteries and the influx of disposable EV vehicles littering landfills like throw away weed whackers,, and battling of EV blazes that cause tons of monetary damages and total losses not only to the vehicle itself but to any standing structure it was in...


EV isn't the future, because no one is looking at the big picture. It's not feasible for the electric grids as they are, it's not going to be sustainable at a mass quantity level like ICE and it's not the answer.

And holy shit can we stop with the cross linking of S650 threads to the S550 forum already.... thought I was still in S550 Land..

 

[Stonehauler]

And holy shit can we stop with the cross linking of S650 threads to the S550 forum already.... thought I was still in S550 Land..

The forums on the 6g board have a link to this forum because it's a sister site. This was not cross linked by anyone here, but by the design of the site itself.

 

[Skye]

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/16/2023-hornet-this-is-dodges-first-electrified-vehicle.html

One to two tells highlighting Dodge's overall EV strategy.

"Dodge says the Hornet will have the top performance in the segment and offer unique aspects, including a “Power Shot” mode for the plug-in hybrid that instantaneously provides 25 more horsepower to the vehicle.

Dodge also showed a concept vehicle called Hornet GT GLH (Goes Like Hell) – another resurrected name from the Dodge Omni GLH in the mid-1980s – that could be built using aftermarket parts or go into production at a later date, offering additional performance to the vehicle lineup."

 

[fordmustangnerd]

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/17/dodge-unveils-electric-muscle-car-concept-charger-daytona-srt.html

Both of these links referring to the next gen charger concept and this thing looks and sounds mean for an electric. Love how dodge is doing this their own way and standing out from the croud in the electric scene with this one.

Skip to 2:00-2:30 minutes in for the audio of the monster

 

[Skye]

Visually, I find several aspects of the car quite attractive. IMO, Dodge designers did very well with this concept.

But there's just something about the idea of playing "performance" sounds for any vehicle; it doesn't appeal to me. I do support making of sounds for the visually-impaired, so they know a EV is in the area.

There are at least three stumbling blocks for EVs in the immediate future:

1. Prices of commodities. Ford has already announced price increases of several thousands of dollars for MY23 EVs. I'm going to think other makers will do same?

2. Recent US legislation and tax credits for purchasing an EV. It sounds good (no pun intended to the above), but when you read through it, the effect is near zero. Once we begin hitting the credit limit, what of purchase interest then?

https://www.eenews.net/articles/climate-bill-would-create-roadblock-for-full-ev-tax-credit/

3. Power grids in California, Texas and New York, often on the verge of collapse under current loads, with customers asked to cut back on electric demands during peak Summer and Winter periods. I've read of other countries sometimes having to do same.

IMO, all the above highlights we are inning 1 or 2 of a long game. Lots of good ideas out there for the future, with some positive impacts to technologies, ICE, EVs and autos in-general. But none of this, good, bad or indifferent, is going to happen quickly. And it's not going to take a path in a straight line.

 

[Stonehauler]

Electrification is going to have challenges. Today, we use approximately 4.6 million Gigawatt Hours (GWh) of electricity in the US and Canada.

If you were to convert the energy of the gasoline and diesel used in the US (excluding Canada) to GWh, that would come out to about 6.4 GWh

Now, EVs are much more efficient than today's ICEs. The sources I have found state that the average new car gets about 25.4 MPG (the average of all cars sold in the US in 2020)
For BEVs, that number goes up to 100-130 MPGe.

Now, let's take the lower number as a conservative estimate. That means we can divide 6.4 by about 4 to get the amount of additional electric generation we will need, which is about 1.6 GWh. So we can electrify our entire fleet by adding about 35 percent more generation and transmission to the electric system.

Unfortunately, it's not that simple, because of the way people will have to charge their cars. People in cities will need access to charging stations. People who park on the street overnight will not be able to charge, requiring them to use either charging stations at work, or fast chargers. People will drive longer distances on major holidays, requiring more power than normal on weekends like Labor Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, etc. The traditional days when Gasoline consumption is the highest. That means we need to find ways to store this electricity in bulk, but it can also be used to help out the electric system as well.

So yes, there will be challenges in the changeover to electrification of the transportation system, but it's not impossible. It will be an adaptation by both utilities and transportation infrastructure.

 

[Stonehauler]

Dodge Banshee

Honestly, I think I will need to see it in person, but it isn't an EWWW - don't want, don't want, right out of the gate. In fact, I kind of like the way it looks.
I don't like the piped in sound
What's the reason for the multi-speed transmission? Is it just to provide a "clunk", or is it something else? I HOPE it's something else...that it provides some other sort of benefit.

Now, for what I hope they can provide

Range - I've seen it mentioned that the platform is capable of 500 mile ranges, but that it won't achieve that due to the performance nature of the system. Range is a critical number for me. Note, the 500 mile range isn't the critical number for me. It's the 300 miles of range between when you start looking for a charging station at 100 miles left, and the 80 percent full marker which is when charging starts to slow down significantly. What I want is 300 miles of USABLE range with 100 miles of reserve. That 300 miles of usable range is needs to be in the fast charging range of the battery. If they can get the battery to fast charge all the way to 100 percent (so at the same rate as it normally does between 20 and 80 percent), then 400 miles of range is good enough. If you can find a way to produce/store the electricity in something other than a battery (like a fuel cell and reactant) that I can fill as quickly as a gasoline tank, then I am good with a 400 mile range there too (maybe a battery/fuel cell combo).

Performance - AWD is good, especially on electrics. I would love to see somewhere in the 400-550 HP range for a SCAT Pack/Bullet (when it's Ford's turn) like performance.
I would like the vehicle to be able to go around corners, so handling is a must have as well.

Experience - I want a fun to drive car. I don't care if it's one speed or multi-speed. I want a car that can push be back in the seat from 0 to the legal limit in the jurisdiction I am in. I want one that will support and press into me into the side of the seat as I go around a corner as it keeps it's tires firmly planted. I want one that will brake down to the turn-in speed quickly. While sounds and thunks may be nice, if they can't give performance I can feel as I drive it, sounds and thunks won't cut it.

 

[Ace]

I absolutely love what Dodge is showing here. Fun and emotions before anything else, like it should be. They developed a system that is blowing air through an exhaust-like system to actually create a real exhaust notes that you can feel when standing next to it, instead of just blowing out something via speakers.

This is the way to go for american EVs, not how Ford call their electric Mustang.

Only downside might be, that I would be surprised if this Halo model is way under $100k. But I could totally imagine buying the 400V Charger as an electric daily in the future.

 

[Mike Pfeifer]

A little bit of imagination can go a long way, trying new things - maybe even weird things. Some things will work out and some just won’t. An electric power train doesn’t have to be uninspiring, but so far that’s all we know. This Dodge Charger shows that you can still put some soul into an EV, and I give them credit for trying those weird things. Even if they don’t “take”, it moves things forward. Just because EVs are like we currently know them, doesn’t mean that’s the only way they can be.

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