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Dodge warns that regulations are killing the V8 engine

Richard Cranium

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Electrification will save their performance, however

Dodge carved out a lucrative niche by democratizing high-horsepower V8s during the 2010s, but it predicts engines like the 392 and the Hellcat face a grim future. Although it will need to adopt electrification sooner rather than later, the firm stressed that its looming shift away from the V8 won't come at the expense of performance.

"The days of an iron block supercharged 6.2-liter V8 are numbered. They're absolutely numbered because of all the compliance costs. But the performance that those vehicles generate is not numbered," asserted division chief Tim Kuniskis in an interview with CNBC. Regulations are currently looser in the United States than in Europe, where emissions-related penalties place the Jeep Wrangler deep into luxury car territory, but CNBC pointed out the Biden administration is widely expected to announce stricter emissions regulations in the near future.

Kuniskis clarified that demand for horsepower remains healthy; Dodge has built over 50,000 Hellcat-powered cars since 2014, and it easily filled the 2,000 available Durango SRT Hellcat build slots. Sister division Ram made 702 units of the 1500 TRX Launch Edition and sold them all in 10 minutes in spite of a $90,265 base price. The 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat V8 deserves the Nobel Prize in Performance for bringing jaw-dropping horsepower figures to non-exotic cars and ushering in what Kuniskis described as the new golden age of muscle cars.

We've been here before, though. The muscle car's first golden age ended abruptly in similar circumstances.

"1972 was the beginning of the end of the golden age of muscle cars. They went away for fuel economy, for the oil crisis. They went away for safety. They went away for insurance, and they went away for increasing emission standards. It's kind of crazy to think about we're getting close to a similar list of things right now," he explained.

Electrification can help ensure enthusiasts don't suddenly pivot from a golden age to a dark age. Kuniskis told CNBC that he views electric technology as performance 2.0, and that we'll start seeing battery-powered drivetrains with Hellcat-rivaling horsepower figures as soon as the cost of the components comes down.

Kuniskis confirmed Dodge will begin adding electric and plug-in hybrid models to its range in the coming years. He stopped short of revealing the type of technology it will roll out across its line-up, or which cars will get it, but the Durango, the Charger, and the Challenger are all due to be replaced in the early 2020s. And, some of the hardware that sister company Jeep uses to build its 4xe powertrain, like an electric motor integrated into an eight-speed automatic transmission and a lithium-ion battery pack, could relatively easily end up in Dodge models.

Put another way, the Dodge range will likely look a lot different in, say, 2025, than it does in 2021. Its cars will be quieter, but they'll still be able to roast their tires, and they'll continue to be exceptionally quick.

"I'm super excited about the future of electric because I think it's what's going to allow us not to fall off the cliff. Without that technology, without electrification, this is 1972 right now, and this thing is going to end," he said.


https://www.autoblog.com/2021/01/29...CwvLtIPHqqExXxKkm4h3vGMOE-tm6FqShv4hFE5qNyMep
 
We saw this coming, at least Mopar's not alone in this smell of gasoline coming to an end. Thanks for sharing!
 
We saw this coming, at least Mopar's not alone in this smell of gasoline coming to an end. Thanks for sharing!
I ve been saying this for a few years now , I tell my clients to drive them now before the end of gas . They were laughing , in not to distant future people will look at us like you look at a pregnant women smoking when pull up to light in your gas car
 
Ok, equal performance. What about equal or better reliability?

How much longer before I cannot buy one of their cars with a 392?

They keep saying "regulations". Which ones specifically?
 
I was jawing with someone about EVs and they said that they thought the current EVs and muscle cars were both high performance drivetrains with other things on top. It was an interesting take on the market. The electrics can move. If I want something that is reliable the way I will drive it, I would buy a commuter and drive it like a commuter.

By the way, I love the V8 and other big cubic inch engines.
 
You can’t stop progress.
The high performance / “musclecar” segment of the new holding company is fairly small in comparison to the commuter vehicle segment.

the bean counters will go with the current tide and what is selling in numbers. same way the SUV killed the family sedan.
 
I read a article today about EV that mentioned people in apartments will have the most difficult transition as charging will be difficult for the mass dwellers. Interesting in that I did not think about that logistic.
I dislike the adaptation being forced by government regulation, but I know I can't stop it.
 
I'd like to see the Green A-holes scramble if absolutely everyone was to go in this week and order/buy an electric car and inform their bosses they had ditched their gasoline vehicle and won't be coming to work until their EV is charged up. Also truckers park their diesel rigs, oil powered ships dock and demand electric power.
How do they intend to supply electicity for all this?
 
You can’t stop progress.
The high performance / “musclecar” segment of the new holding company is fairly small in comparison to the commuter vehicle segment.

the bean counters will go with the current tide and what is selling in numbers. same way the SUV killed the family sedan.
Now there is a new definition of progress.
 
Inevitable.. Sad. and not necessary. It' boils down to this: " What do the conservative deplorables in flyover country cling to? Cars, religion, and guns." THIS is the long range plan to rid themselves of US by denying US the very things that make our lives a pleasure to live. The plan to turn everyone who isn't a wealthy Leftist into a worker bee who has no rights and no life. Utopia for some, hell for everyone else who has to support it. I'm glad I'm old.
 
Just remember that people used to get from place to place on one horse......
 
Yep, let’s hope “they” don’t outlaw ICE cars and racing them, like “they” did to horses.
 
Yep, let’s hope “they” don’t outlaw ICE cars and racing them, like “they” did to horses.
Not a apples to apples comparison. The fuel for horses was never government regulated or taxed as the fuel for automobiles.
You are correct the gasoline car will not be banned, but the fuel will certainly be taken away by big brother.
 
I highly doubt that fossil fuel will be taken away.
This will progress organically, like all other advancements have.
They won’t have to “take it away”, as the masses will move to EV’s and gasoline will be a boutique product.
 
Let me know when an EV can make it from coast to coast in under 26 hours including fuel stops...

The Cannonball Run is an unsanctioned speed record, typically accepted to run from New York City's Red Ball Garage to the Portofino Hotel in Los Angeles, a distance of about 2,800 miles (4,500 km).[1] As of August 2020, the record is 25 hours 39 minutes, with a top speed of 175 miles per hour (280 km/h) and an average speed of 110 miles per hour

Okay lets slow it down some...

Car and Driver magazine detailed the November 1971 running a remarkable effort was made by American racing legend Dan Gurney, He and Brock Yates as co-driver took 35 hours 54 minutes to travel 2,863 miles (4,608 km) at an average of approximately 80 mph


But hey EV's are catching up..... Here only 50 years later...
At the end of 2020, Kyle Conner, Drew Peterson and Tijmen Schreur lowered the EV record to 44:26
 
The range will improve, as will battery technology.

don’t get me wrong, I’m a gear head to the core, and I really dig the ICE.

That said, this is coming, and we aren’t going to change that.
 
I can see it now...Coming to the year 2050... 1st annual nostalgic gasoline powered vehicle car cruise event at the former Indy 500 racetrack. Limited amounts of gasoline will be made available for this event. Register early to ensure that your 20 gallon allotment will be available. $500 entry fee. Proceeds to fund the baby seal, polar bear, artic ice restoration project.
 
The range will improve, as will battery technology.

don’t get me wrong, I’m a gear head to the core, and I really dig the ICE.

That said, this is coming, and we aren’t going to change that.
Battery tech has a physical limit to it, and we are already close to it.
The only other major jump that could happen is nuclear powered electric cars, but that won't ever happen with the way burocrats work, and how the left is already against nuclear power, and public safety rules.
Gas and diesel cars are here to stay.

...unless a tyrant leader outright bans them and forces us to use an inferior product, and in that case I'd just run my Mopars on alcohol
 
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