Gasoline-powered muscle cars, a staple of American culture for decades, will be the last Saturday in the next few years as automakers begin to replace them with super-fast cars. approaching night cruise. Runs on batteries.
Stellantis' Dodge brand, formerly known as Fiat Chrysler, has officially transitioned to electric. I'm here. On Wednesday night, Dodge unveiled his car, the battery-powered Charger Daytona SRT Concept.
Stellantis says it will stop making gasoline-his versions of muscle cars Dodge Challenger and Charger, and the larger Chrysler 300 by the end of next year. The Canadian factory that makes them will be converted to electric vehicles. Other automakers are or are moving in the same direction.
General Motors has announced that it will build an all-electric Chevrolet his Corvette. Tesla says the Model S Plaid version is the fastest car ever produced, and he can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (97 kilometers per hour) in less than two seconds. Audi, Mercedes, Porsche and other European automakers are already selling high-performance electric models. And Polestar, an electric performance spin-off from Volvo, has just unveiled its new Polestar 6 roadster for 2026.
One reason the industry is changing is that electric cars simply get faster off the starting line. Handling is also usually better, as the heavy battery lowers the center of gravity.
Stricter government pollution requirements are another factor. U.S. automakers will have to abandon some gasoline-fueled muscle car models to produce a wider range of electric vehicles, facing tougher fuel economy requirements adopted by the Biden administration.
Tim Kuniskis, his CEO of the Dodge brand, said potential government fines for not meeting fuel efficiency requirements has hastened the shift to electric chargers. “The non-compliance fines and stuff like that associated with a big cast-iron supercharged V8 are certainly severe,” he said.
Still, it will be years before the petrol-powered Classic goes away.
"I think the internal combustion engine will continue to exist for the next few years, perhaps through most of the decade," he said, said Sam Abuelsamid, a research analyst at Guidehouse Insights. "But increasingly, the focus will be on electrification."
Under the new fuel efficiency standards announced in April, the fleet of new vehicles will reduce the should average about 40 miles per gallon, the EPA says. The standards are likely to be tightened further in the future, forcing US-based automakers to sell gas-powered muscle cars to avoid fines.
According to the EPA, the Stellantis had the lowest average fuel economy of 21.3 miles per gallon and the highest average carbon footprint of all major automakers. So the company may have to remove some models to avoid fines. For example, his supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi Hellcat V-8 powered Limited Edition Charger SRT Widebody gets just 12 mpg in city driving and on the highway he's only 21 mpg.
For many experts, the idea of a muscle car without noise and smell is heresy. But Kuniskis says Dodge is working hard to make the electric experience comparable to the internal combustion engine. The Charger produces its own airflow to produce an exhaust note that rivals gasoline-powered cars, he said. And the transmission shifts gears.
He said electric cars have the potential to outperform fast-accelerating gas muscle cars. But he said they were kind of sterile. It doesn't feel dangerous like it sometimes does."
Kuniskis didn't say how fast the electric charger could go from 0 to 60 miles per hour, but the company's current oil He also didn't mention the range per charge of the new Challenger, but added that range isn't as important as what makes it a true muscle car.
Rick Nelson, owner of Muscle Car Restoration & Designs in Pleasant Plains, Illinois, near Springfield, said switching from big, fuel-burning engines to quieter electricity was a big win for growth. He warned that it may be difficult for experienced veterans. Filled with the sounds and smells of racing.
Nelson, 61, said he first fixed a car in his teens and spent hours on his strip in drag. He acknowledged that the switch to electric was inevitable and necessary to attract a new generation accustomed to quieter speeds. He said he misses the smell of fuel.
Companies are already starting to equip classic muscle cars with electric powertrains, according to Nelson. He's been in touch with Tesla engineers about retrofitting the battery and electric motor into some classics.
said of electric muscle cars. "But this is not the story of my generation."
Kuniskis says the move to electric doesn't mean the end of muscle cars. It's a new era.
"All right," he said. "Let me show you what the future looks like."