EV Dodge Challenger has Muscle Car Fanatics Fuming
Slideshow: It is really worth keeping the Challenger around if it's forced to trade in the thundering V-8 for a hybrid powertrain?
Say Goodbye
Say goodbye to just about everything you love about muscle cars. This is not a joke - but it's the biggest joke we've heard from the FCA boss's lips, since words started leaving those lips! The Challenger, as we know it, is officially on borrowed time! I'd venture to say that, it has been for quite a while, and the deliberation leading up to the decision has been a long time in the making. What we do know: Dodge says the Challenger will still be here, but in "Hybrid" form - which might actually be worse than killing it.
A Fitting Tribute
While converting the Challenger to a hybrid configuration may sound like a good idea to "save" the iconic car, there's more reason to be outraged at this decision than one. As I explain why, gander at the images in this slideshow and imagine what it sounded like as the cameraman snapped these shots...an ear-splitting exhaust note was ripping through his head as the engine grabbed a gear or two, the ground shook beneath his feet, the 6.2-liter V-8 pounded the ground with 707 thundering horsepower. Now, imagine that replaced with the squeal of a 2.0-liter four-cylinder, with electric boost motors. Not quite the same, is it?
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No Replacement - For Displacement
There's no replacement for displacement - we've all heard it before. People can contest this all they want, but it doesn't matter how many twin-turbos are hanging off the side of their half-cast engine blocks, nothing can replace the off-beat rumbling that two banks of cylinders produce when paired in sets of four! Everything that the Challenger equates to is a result of this iconic engine configuration. Sure, the early days of the first horsepower wars were primitive, but that's what hot rodding was all about.
>>Join the conversation about the possibility of an EV muscle car right here in Dodgeforum.com.
A New Era?
If you ask the big brass over at FCA, you really can't argue with their point; "The reality is, those platforms (and that technology) we used does need to move on, they can't exist as you get into the mid-2020s." Surely we see their point, and we can't expect Uncle Sam to let us indiscriminately blast copious volumes of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere every time a light turns green. But FCA will also continue to say that "technology is going to drive a load of weight out," allowing them to rethink powertrain options - eventually leading to what? A full-blown EV Challenger? We just can't have that! Either the Challenger burns fuel or dies trying!
>>Join the conversation about the possibility of an EV muscle car right here in Dodgeforum.com.
Or A Cash Grab
Let's face it, FCA owns the rights to the Challenger brand, and they can do what they like with it. So something as legendary as the Challenger would only be a natural way to showcase a performance EV - the only kind anybody really cares about. Elon Musk proved this with this Tesla line. All anyone can talk about is "Ludicrous" mode. A performance EV is the only type of EV that really generates any worthy hype. But what will the Challenger even be? Can a legendary icon survive in an electric world?
>>Join the conversation about the possibility of an EV muscle car right here in Dodgeforum.com.
The End Result
What they might do is ride the name into the dust, as long as they can. Why wouldn't they? As for us, we'll be left with a remnant of a thundering past, slowly fading further and further away from our grasp. But isn't this is the natural order of things? Isn't it the only way the "real" Challenger (and others like it) can be immortalized forever? They have to go away - at some point. We should all be thankful that we got to catch a glimpse of true American Muscle, while we could. Obviously, we won't let go without a fight, but some things can only be prolonged so much. So, cherish the memory that you were fortunate enough to have, and make sure you raise your children right - lest they start to think the Camry is a classic!
What do you think of a future Challenger where the HEMI V8 is replaced with hybrid and electric drive?
>>Join the conversation about the possibility of an EV muscle car right here in Dodgeforum.com.
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