From Alex on Autos.
The Dodge Charger EV: It’s a great landing, at the RIGHT airport… but… nobody is waiting to board. Or to put it another way: It’s the "most Dodge" thing Dodge has built since the original Hellcat.
Hear me out for a moment. The Dodge Charger is actually a pretty decent EV, and it’s also a muscle car.
The 3.3-second 0-60 isn’t Lucid Air quick, but it’s faster than the old Hellcat charger, and thanks to insane tires (305/35R20 front, 325/35R20 rear), it actually manages to grip better in the skidpad and figure-eight than the old wide-body Charger Hellcat. OR a BMW M5… It does donuts, it burns out, it drifts, it makes insanely loud noises, it "revs" in parking garages and tunnels, and it’s HUGE. It’s also a conspicuous consumer. If there were a gas guzzler tax on EVs, this baby would get the same slap on the window sticker as a Hummer. We averaged basically the same economy this week as the last Hummer EV we tested. There’s just one problem: it’s electric.
And there’s the problem. I’m sure that there is some overlap in the Venn Diagram that is Dodge owners vs EV intenders, but it’s the smallest sliver ever. And yet… It makes sense.
Say what? Well, hear me out. If the market is transitioning to EVs (at some undetermined date in the future), then the market will need EVs that aren’t shaped like efficient jellybeans. We’ll need…. "dumb" EVs. Yep, I said it. We’ll need EVs that make no sense and yet make you smile and giggle. We need the insane muscle EV, the Hummer EV, the badass truck EV, etc.
But also: don’t be surprised that it doesn’t sell.
Finally, back to that plane analogy. I’m also not sure how many people are at the adjacent gate waiting to board the 6-cylinder turbo Charger, however good it might be.
Here’s why we don’t talk about reliability much: https://youtu.be/WicesuUvTXo
And resale value? Same thing: https://youtu.be/635cX7A3E_Y
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0:00 – Introduction
0:43 – My unvarnished thoughts
4:47 – How big is it?
7:23 – Silly noises
10:49 – Seat comfort
15:09 – Cargo space
17:33 – Interior
26:44 – 0-60 acceleration, braking, handling
37:35 – Pricing and comparisons
41:00 – Conclusion
