To further demonstrate the Tesla Effect, Tim Kuniskis, Head of Passenger Cars for Fiat Chrysler recently teased the idea that electric versions of American muscle cars like the Dodge Challenger Hellcat and Charger should be expected.
The news arrived in the wake of Dodge’s release of the Widebody Performance Package for the Dodge Scat Pack Charger and Challenger. An electric future would be quite a departure for Dodge’s flagship American muscle cars.
Powered by muscular, performance-orientated ICE V8 engines currently, the future inclusion of electric drivetrain technology would be a bold new direction for the Challenger and Charger.
American Muscle meets the Electric Revolution
When pressed further on the matter, Kuniskis outlined the research and development efforts underway to push the next generation of American automotive innovation: “I think the absolute future is electrification of these cars. And that’s not necessarily bad. It could be [battery electric], it could be [plug-in hybrid], it could be regular hybrid, could be e-axles, any one of the number of electric technologies. But I am a firm believer that electrification will be the key to high performance in the future.”
Improving the affordability of electric drivetrain technologies remains a key interest for Fiat Chrysler. In his opinion, Kuniskis believes high performance electric vehicles are already a reality, but the majority of them fall closer towards the luxury segment of the automotive market.
Once the costs of mass producing electric vehicles drops further, he seems to suggest an American automotive renaissance will follow: “We don’t have the price points of the batteries down to a place where, quite honestly, it’s a mainstream proposition,” Kuniskis said. “You do see it in the upper end. You see it in the new Ferrari that just came out, you saw it in the LaFerrari before that, you saw it in the 918, you saw it in the NSX. So there’s absolutely a performance advantage to it, it’s just a question of when the consumer acceptance is going to be for that. And I think it’s going to be as soon as the price points come down, it becomes a mainstream viable option.”
Preparing for an Electric Future
With the news that American automotive brands like Dodge are radically re-imagining their future designs to better match up with the tremendous disruption caused by the success of Tesla, Inc., the electric automotive future seems more and more likely.
Though Kuniskis affirmed that hybrid or otherwise electric versions of the Dodge Challenger and Charger should not be anticipated within the current life cycles of the cars, he painted a different picture for the future.
Dodge joins many other car companies around the world who are planning for the succeeding versions of their most successful cars to feature electric drivetrain technologies.
Source: Automotive News