You may get a charge out of this news. Or – rather – you won’t have to. And that’s the really electrifying news.
Which is this:
It looks like Dodge is not going to turn the Charger into a battery powered device next year after all.
At least, not necessarily.
There will be a battery-powered version, as promised. Or rather, as forced.
As a result of the federal regulatory regime having made it nigh-impossible to continue making Chargers with engines.
At least, exclusively.
Battery-powered devices help Dodge (and every car manufacturer) comply with the pending federal regulations that require every manufacturer’s combined fleet of vehicles to average close to 50 miles-per-gallon come 2026. A battery powered device is favored hugely by the regs because of a legerdemain called “MPGe” that enables a battery powered device to tout spectacularly high mileage numbers that are supposedly equivalent to what a gas-burning vehicle would be, if it were as “efficient” as a battery powered device.
The problem is the formula does not take into account the inefficiencies involved in generating and transmitting the electricity burned up by the battery-powered device – which, if taken into account, would halve the touted “MPGe” figures to about the same as the average MPG numbers touted by a mid-sized gas-burning crossover SUV.
But never mind that.
What matters when it comes to trying to sell things these days is figuring out ways to make sure what you sell is compliant with the regulatory regime’s diktats. Nothing else matters – because compliance is fundamentally all that matters. Because compliance is the fundamental object of government.
That is why Dodge – and Chrysler and Jeep and (yes) Ram trucks, too – will no longer be powered by the Hemi V8 that has been one of the main reasons so many people have bought Dodges, Chryslers, Jeeps and Ram trucks. The V8 could not be made compliant – and thus, Stellantis – which is the parent company of those brands – could no longer offer for sale that which people wanted to buy.
However, it is becoming increasingly obvious that many people are not wanting to buy a battery-powered device. Especially Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep and Ram truck buyers. Trying to sell them a battery powered device is something on par with trying to sell heterosexual blue collar men Bud Lite with Dylan Mulvaney on the can.
As in good luck with that.
The people running Stellantis appear to understand the peril of that and have decided to take corrective action before rather than after the fact.
A credible source in a position to know has leaked the following:
“They’re keeping gasoline engines. The official designation for the vehicle platform is LB and it will have the new GME-T6 Hurricane inline-six in RWD and AWD . . . It will be using the Stellantis Gen 4 transmission that’s also rolling out to Mack Assembly, Jefferson North Assembly and Toledo North.”
Cue Johnny Cash singing I saw the light!
This will be the alternative to the battery-powered device, much as the F-150 is the alternative to the battery-powered device – the Lightning – that isn’t selling. But by offering it for sale, Ford is compliant with the regime of the federal regulatory apparat. Each battery-powered device made by Ford ups Ford’s fleet average miles-per-gallon number. For example, while a V8-powered F-150 only averages 19 MPG, the battery-powered device claims “68 MPGe,” or nearly three times as “efficient.” Which – of course – it isn’t. But that’s not what’s important.
Compliance is.
So Ford builds the battery-powered devices to offset the compliance costs of selling vehicles . . . the ones people want to buy.
This is what it looks like Dodge is going to do, too.
The soon-to-be-launched next-generation Charger will be available in the configuration people want – with an engine – which Dodge will be able to offer by also making a battery-powered version. Remember: The latter doesn’t have to sell. It just has to be made.
In order that Dodge is compliant.
Of course, someone is going to have to pay for all of this compliance – and that will be the people subsidizing the costs of the battery powered devices via the purchase of the alternative to them. Expect the price of an engine-powered new Charger to be substantially higher than the cost of a current (2023) Charger with an engine, in order that Dodge can recover the costs of making the battery-powered devices for which there is little (and dwindling) market demand.
There will also be some other costs. The new engine isn’t a V8 engine – because even with the offset assist of the battery-powered devices, it uses too much gas to allow for a balancing out. Also, the new six cylinder engines will not be offered with a manual transmission, which is still available (for another two months) in the two-door version of the Charger, the Challenger. The next-generation Charger (and Challenger, if Dodge decides to offer a two-door version going forward) will be automatic-only, because automatics can be programmed and thus are better suited to be compliant.
Nonetheless, it’s a step in the right direction for a change. A reversal of course that bodes well for a future that might not be entirely “electrified,” after all.
. . .
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I’m a little late to the party but as for aesthetics I really don’t think this new Dodge whatever is any sort of an improvement over the current model(s), even despite their OMG!! age. It LOOKS like an EV to my eyes, however that translates in real life I’ve no account. It’s too slim, too angular, too androgynous to replace the hulks that came before. And how in the hell are they going to make a proper Chrysler out of the damn thing? I have no idea.
Hi Jay,
I would have rather seen them continue to build the current Charger/Challenger for as long as enough people wanted to buy them to make it worth building them. I would have really preferred a “de-contented” variant with just the performance parts and without the cost adding stuff that sold for around $30k – which would have enabled more people to buy one.
That said, I am happy to see some pushback against this EVs-only agenda. And while looks are subjective, I don’t mind the looks of this new Charger from what I’v seen of it. It reminds me a bit of the early ’70s Charger/Road Runner/GTX in some ways.
Despite the fact that EVs are quite expensive for the average American and the existing electrical grid can’t handle widespread adoption of EVs, plus costs associated with plugging one in potentially going up even more than they are now, the Biden Thing and governments around the world are STILL trying to shove EVs down everyone’s throats….
https://realclearwire.com/articles/2023/10/24/mega-jolt_the_costs_and_logistics_of_plugging_in_evs_are_about_to_become_supercharged_987493.html#/find/nearest?country=US
Naturally, John!
Just as they tried to force “masks” and Face Diapers – long after it became undeniable (to a rational person) that neither “worked” – leaving aside the immorality of forcing such things on anyone.
Eric,
The government & the CDC is doing much the same thing with the “vaccines” that have shown neither to prevent infection NOR stop the spread of the dreaded ‘Rona. From what I’ve read elsewhere about what these jabs have been doing to people who took them, they SHOULD have been taken off the shelves at least 2 years ago, but the fact that these jabs are STILL being pushed is proof positive there’s a far more sinister agenda being pushed. Fortunately though, uptake of the “new and improved COVID jabs” appears to be a TINY percentage of the population.
As for thus obsessive push for EVs, I was watching The Highwire yesterday, and one of the things being reported on was the possibility of insurance companies eventually refusing to insure electric vehicles because of the problems that we KNOW exist with them, such as spontaneous combustion, the insane cost of replacing a battery, or even not knowing what kind of the damage the battery gets if the EV is in a wreck. What will people do if & when the insurance companies start refusing to insure electric vehicles because of the aforementioned issues? As I’m sure you know, in most states, people who drive a car are required to have insurance, and if the insurance mafia refuses to insure EVs, that might be another way for the government to force people out of cars altogether.
I did not know where to give you this link, Eric, as it is a few days old. Lo and behold, a guys EV would not charge for him in the cold. Surprise surprise… https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2023/10/27/joe-bidens-green-energy-flop-automakers-realize-americans-are-not-buying-electric-vehicles/
There is a modern steam engine to power vehicles that can burn various fuels, it is up to 60% efficient, that is better then any ice or EV vehicle, we have gone backwards from the old days with steam powered vehicles. See: Cyclonepower……
If they don’t like you they turn off your electricity, you are immobilized and freeze in the winter, they turn off your electronic money, you don’t eat, all transportation, heating, communication and soon money is going electric, electronic.
Generating electricity, we lost 22 quadrillion Btu from converting coal, natural gas, nuclear and petroleum into electricity in power plants in 2013 in the U.S. – that’s more than the energy in all the gasoline we use in a given year.
Thermal efficiency of power plants using coal, petroleum, natural gas or nuclear fuel and converting it to electricity are around 33% efficiency, natural gas is around 40%.
Moving electricity from plants to homes and businesses on the transmission and distribution grid, we lost 69 trillion Btu in 2013 – that’s about how much energy Americans use drying our clothes every year.
Just convert the fuel to energy in your steam powered vehicle and get up to 60% efficiency and eliminate the cost of power plants (which costs billions of dollars) converting petroleum to electricity (creating pollution) , transmitting it over millions of miles of transmission and distribution lines (which costs billions of dollars), then spending many hours storing the electricity in your very expensive EV’s fire bomb lithium batteries and ending up with a net efficiency of 25%.
Re: power plants: all they are doing is boiling water to make energy, you might as well just get a steam powered car, cut your own wood or use other fuels, to boil water, make your own energy in your steam powered car, you control the power source, steam power was best and we just went backwards since then.
https://cyclonepower.com/#
Lots of lies….
ice vehicles burn fuel in the vehicle so it is hard to hide what the fuel consumption is, with EV’s the fuel is burnt back at the power station, so it is easier to hide/lie about how much fuel was burnt to generate the electricity, this is never discussed and is lied about/denied/concealed all the time….lol….24/7 liars…..
What they wanted:
The target fuel economy EV manufacturers are trying to get is to get 3.6 mile range for every kwh or using 27.77 kwh to go 100 miles (.2777 kwh per mile) = 125 mpg
125 mpg is based on electricity just coming out of a wall plug, in reality 3.20 gallons of fuel or 29 lb of coal are burnt to generate the electricity in the power station). = 31.25 mpg
What they got:
What test drivers are actually getting driving in the real world driving EV’s is they are getting 2.4 miles of range for every kwh or using 41.66 kwh to go 100 miles. (.4166 kwh per mile) = 83 mpg
(83 mpg is based on electricity just coming out of a wall plug, in reality 4.80 gallons of fuel or 43 lb of coal were burnt to generate the electricity in the power station = 20.8 mpg).
So to end up with 41.66 kwh of electricity which is equivalent to 1.20 gallons of gas to push the EV 100 miles down the road 4.80 gallons of fuel or 43 lb of coal were burnt to generate the electricity in the power station, remember net 25% efficiency. 100 miles using 4.80 gallons = 20.8 mpg,
20.8 mpg….lol…..these EV’s use more fuel so pollute more then ice vehicles
most new gas or diesel ice cars get better fuel economy, cost way less, use far fewer resources to manufacture, don’t have lithium fire bomb batteries, last three times as long as EV’s….
NOTE:
Thermal efficiency of power plants using coal, petroleum, natural gas or nuclear fuel and converting it to electricity are around 33% efficiency, natural gas is around 40%. Then there is average 6% loss in transmission, then there is a 5% loss in the charger, another 5% loss in the inverter, the electric motor is 90% efficient so another 10% loss before turning the electricity into mechanical power at the wheels.
33% – 6% – 5% – 5% – 10% = 25% efficiency for EV’s. In very cold weather EV’s are 12% efficient
Plus the cost of the battery, which is huge, you have to store the electricity in the very, very expensive battery, that is the killer for EV’s right there, the expensive, rapidly wearing out battery.
the tesla $22,000 battery is used up, worn out in 100,000 miles. this works out to $22.00 per 100 miles it is costing you for the battery.
travelling 100 miles in a 50 mpg diesel uses 2 gallons of fuel @ $4.00/gal. = $8.00
One difference is the diesel powered car doesn’t need a $22,000 battery for storage, it just has a $200 gas tank for energy storage that lasts longer then the car.
Fuel economy of the Ford F150 EV truck….
EPA estimate of 51 kWh/100 miles = getting 1.96 miles of range for every kwh which equates to 16 mpg…in ideal conditions….
if it is very cold outside this drops 50% = 8 mpg….
when towing 6000 lb range dropped to 85 miles about a 75% drop = 4 mpg
How about a gasoline-powered equivalent? Though they don’t really compare in power or price, Ford does sell a Platinum F-150 SuperCrew with a 5.0-liter V8 under the hood. The gas-powered Platinum (which can also run on e85) starts at an MSRP of about $63K, so about two-thirds the cost of its fully electric counterpart.
Its 5.0-liter V8 engine produces a decent 400 horsepower but offers little more than half the torque of the Lightning at 410 lb-ft.
The good news is that the V8 isn’t picky about its octane, so regular fuel is fine, and this F-150 is estimated to get 20 mpg in combined driving………hot or cold you still get 20 mpg
when towing 7000 lb range the F150 5.0-liter V8 engine truck got 9.8 mpg ……with 26 gallon tank = 254 mile range….
cost per 100 miles
F150 EV 51 kwh x $0.40 at fast charger = $20.40……. plus battery cost $22.00 = $42.40 total
the $22,000 battery lasts 100,000 miles (if you don’t use fast chargers) this equates to $0.22 per mile x 100 miles = $22.00
F150 ice 5 gallons X $3.33 = $16.65
pay $42.40 to go 100 miles in an F150 EV or pay $16.65 in an F150 gas ice truck….plus the F150 Ev costs far more, has no range and takes hours to refuel/recharge, weighs more so eats tires….and the lithium fire bomb batteries are very dangerous….don’t charge it inside your garage….lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e55Vued028
Ice diesel vs EV fuel economy comparison:
To go 100 miles the ice diesel burns 1.36 gallons of diesel in it’s super clean .000001% emission engine.
the EPA tells us that modern gas powered cars produce 98 – 99% less pollution than cars from the 1960s and 1970s. modern cars have .000001% emissions but that isn’t good enough they want zero, they are liars though, the new EV’s pollute more…lol
To go 100 miles the EV burns 43 lb of coal…… 43 lb of dirty coal were burnt to generate the electricity in the power station producing huge emissions destroying the environment.
ATTENTION: remember they are CEV’s Coal Electric Vehicles….
Plus the added bonus of a lithium fire bomb battery in the car….lol
ATTENTION: The Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion ice diesel has emissions of 85g CO2 per km
the VW XL1 hybrid diesel produced emissions of 21g of CO2 per km…far cleaner then an EV….
A current-model large EV car emits about 88 grams of CO2 per kilometer,…EV’s are way dirtier….lol
Ice diesel:
The 2014 Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion diesel, capable of a claimed 88.3 mpg imperial, or 73.5 mpg U.S.
it has a 971 mile range, the perfect car.
The Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion has emissions of 85g CO2 per km. it is even cleaner (less emissions) than a Toyota Prius or an EV….
A bloomberg article states, “A current-model large EV car with a battery produced and charged in an average European Union country emits about 88 grams of CO2 per kilometer,
it weighs 1125 kg, 2480 lb, the new EV’s are over 4000 lb. it weighs 40% less.
EV
What test drivers are actually getting driving in the real world driving EV’s is they are getting 2.4 miles of range for every kwh
They are using 41.66 kwh to go 100 miles. (.4166 kwh per mile) = 83 mpg
ATTENTION: 83 mpg is based on electricity just coming out of a wall plug,
in reality 4.80 gallons of fuel or 43 lb of coal were burnt to generate the electricity in the power station = 20.8 mpg).
So to go 100 miles the EV burns 43 lb of coal
So to end up with 41.66 kwh of electricity which is equivalent to 1.20 gallons of gas to push the EV 100 miles down the road 4.80 gallons of fuel or 43 lb of coal were burnt to generate the electricity in the power station, remember net 25% efficiency. 100 miles using 4.80 gallons = 20.8 mpg,
New EV’s are over 4000 lb, that is why they get bad fuel economy. The 2014 Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion diesel weighs 40% less, helping it to get far greater fuel economy.
Energy density:
In order to go 200 miles the EV had to carry around a 1000 lb battery (some tesla batteries weigh 1800 lb, the hummer battery is 3000 lb.)
In order to go 200 miles the 2014 Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion diesel had to only carry 9.52 lb of fuel.
The 2014 Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion costs $24,355 U.S., EV’s start at about $45,000
there is a $20,000 incentive to buy the Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion…lol
20.8 mpg….lol…..these EV’s use more fuel so pollute more then ice vehicles
most new gas or diesel ice cars get better fuel economy, cost way less, use far fewer resources to manufacture, don’t have lithium fire bomb batteries, last three times as long as EV’s….
NOTE:
Thermal efficiency of power plants using coal, petroleum, natural gas or nuclear fuel and converting it to electricity are around 33% efficiency, natural gas is around 40%. Then there is average 6% loss in transmission, then there is a 5% loss in the charger, another 5% loss in the inverter, the electric motor is 90% efficient so another 10% loss before turning the electricity into mechanical power at the wheels.
33% – 6% – 5% – 5% – 10% = 25% efficiency for EV’s. In very cold weather EV’s are 12% efficient
a gallon of gas retains 100% of its chemical-kinetic-electrical energy potential throughout the entirety of its supply chain. This is extraordinarily effective when compared to electricity in either transmitted or battery-stored forms – which does not retain its potential and can lose from 15 to 45% of the generated kilowatt hours of electricity during the delivery and battery-charging/depletion/use processes.
……… instead of 26% loss (during delivery and use) this says it is up to a 45% loss
33% – 45% = 15% efficiency for EV’s. Then in very cold weather EV’s are 8% efficient..another 50% loss….
An EV just sitting loses:
tesla says a daily 3%-5% stationary range consumption.” (just parked)
So Tesla says it’s normal to fully discharge itself in under 3 weeks. Keep this in mind when parking it somewhere 90kwh @ $0.40 per kwh = another $36.00 per week loss just parked…lol
Plus the cost of the battery, which is huge, you have to store the electricity in the very, very expensive battery, that is the killer for EV’s right there, the expensive, rapidly wearing out battery.
the tesla $22,000 battery is used up, worn out in 100,000 miles.
ATTENTION: this works out to $22.00 per 100 miles it is costing you for the battery.
2014 Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion for sale… $6403.00….buy one…
https://www.motors.co.uk/volkswagen/golf/trim/bluemotion/year/2014/used-cars/
Someone asked the CEO of GM where the electricity comes from (she was standing beside a GM EV in a presentation)…she pointed to the wall plug…lol…she must think there is a tooth fairy in the wall that makes the electricity….she is beyond stupid…..
eMPG is referring to a calculation based on the electricity coming out of the wall plug….but… in reality fuel was burnt in a power plant and then transmitted a long distance over transmission and distribution lines…..with big energy losses….
you have to go back to the power plant and figure how much fuel was actually burnt to generate the electricity…..the liars just ignore this in their calculation….
eMPG would be correct if a tooth fairy in the wall generated the electicity…that is not the reality…EV’s are CEV’s…coal electric vehicles….
eMPG is referring to a calculation based on the electricity coming out of the wall plug…this is a huge deception and lie, it is a fairy tale…lol….the marxist control group thinks the slaves are so stupid they will believe anything….remember safe and effective?….the slaves believed every word….
EV cars get about 20.8 mpg…if you calculate the amount of fuel burnt at the power station….
Energy loss in transmission = around 6% average in the U.S. (some states are 9%). Some countries, like India, have losses pushing 30 percent. Often, this is due to electricity thieves. More of that will be happening soon.
Fun fact: Transmission and distribution losses tend to be lower in rural states like Wyoming and North Dakota. Why? Less densely populated states have more high-voltage, low-loss transmission lines and fewer lower-voltage, high-loss distribution lines.
So they are pushing everybody into big cities which have higher energy loss in transmission, which wastes more energy, complete morons.
https://grid.insideenergy.org/lost-in-transmission
powering cars with electric motors is far less efficient then using gas or diesel ice engines….
Diesel is best over 50% efficiency, gas now up to 37% or more, a Mercedes Formula 1 gas engine = 50% efficiency . A modern steam engine is 50%+ efficient.
Ev’s 25% efficiency. In very cold weather 12%
Anon1,
I would think that the efficiency of oil or natural gas fired power plants would be higher, because you can run both fuels directly in a gas turbine. With coal or nuclear, you heat up water, make steam, then pipe the pressurized steam through a steam turbine; you have that extra step. OTOH, with oil or gas, you can burn the fuel directly, thus converting it to work much sooner.
The four foot by twelve foot coal bin in the basement of the house where I grew up full of chunk coal fed the octopus coal burning furnace, gravity heated, hot air goes up, didn’t need any electricity, your house was heated with no other auxiliary inputs. The chimney exhausts the carbon monoxide, warmth counts just as much as food.
Keep the burner box clean and haul the ashes to the alley, you’re good.
Thermal efficiency of power plants using coal, petroleum, natural gas or nuclear fuel and converting it to electricity are around 33% efficiency, natural gas is around 40%.
….the fuel is burnt to boil water….this creates steam which turns a turbine which is connected to a generator which generates electricity….which is sent out over transmission lines….
nuclear sub…….the fuel is burnt to boil water….this creates steam which turns a turbine which turns the props…
so EV’s are steam powered….coal was burnt to create the steam…lol…
some smaller plants could use a gas turbine connected to a generator…
the advantage with steam is instant torque like an electric motor…and enormous power potential….to turn a huge generator….
Okay, thanks.
That engine would be really great in just a slightly smaller, lighter car. Something closer to 4K lbs.
I copied this post from elsewhere but its relevant because I’m mystified by this MPGe thing which is -utter- BS and a totally meaningless real world metric.
“MPGe” measures the wrong thing
I’ve been struggling to make sense out of MPGe ratings from the US EPA, and concluded that they basically measure the wrong thing. The definition is that one gallon of gasoline contains the same energy as 33.7 kWh of electrical energy, but so what?
If a car with a ten gallon gas tank can go ~250 miles and that gas is equivalent to 337 kWh, which should take a typical EV ~1000 miles, what happened to the other 750 miles? The answer of course is that today’s EVs don’t have 337 kWh batteries, so it doesn’t really make sense to compare this way. In fact what MPGe really measures is the pure technical efficiency of converting energy to movement, and again so what?
What people really need to know is how far they can go with the energy they’ve got. A car that’s technically 4x more efficient but carries 1/4th the energy is only as practical to a consumer as the car that sucks at converting energy but carries lots of it.
So I say toss the meaningless MPGe ratings and just tell us how many kWh it takes to go a fixed distance (e.g. 100 miles). Now I can see that a 64 kWh battery can take me 200 miles if 32 kWh takes me 100 miles, and never mind the technical efficiency behind that.
Tldr: MPGe ratings are stupid. KWh per 100 miles is much more useful information.
Hi Useranon99,
I think the whole point of the “MPGe” thing is to intentionally mislead people about EVs. As you’ve noted, the whole thing is disingenuous. Well, why is it so? Because it is meant to make EVs appear to be superior to cars with engines, by making people think: 105 MPGe! That’s terrific! That’s three times better than my IC car! I’ll save so much money!
EPA knows this is misleading. The “consumer advocates” know. But they don’t say or do anything about it because it furthers the agenda.
This will not save Mopar… ppl want the throaty, ballsy, Hemi V8. No one’s paying up the ass for a 6 cylinder, lane ass Charger or Challenger. I cannot understand for the life of me, why with the lobbying power and money the big 3 have at their disposal they haven’t collectively told the government, especially Californication land to F the F off! I cannot understand why they’ve been rolling over since CAFE and not where you can purchase over priced coffee. Americans lust for big V8 power, even in small block form. The proof is, when the 3 stopped offering big to mid sized, full bodied, rear wheel drive cars, they started buying pickups en masse…
They will pry my 93, 40th anniversary Corvette from my AR15 holding hands.
Hi Vinny,
I hear you – and I don’t disagree. But, it’s a significant reversal of course and while it may not save Dodge, it may help save the car industry. There is still time to prevent “electrification” from metastasizing. It’s of a piece with opposition to “masking” – and “vaccinating.” Holding the line matters. It undermines. It gives the truth time to do its work.
Thanks for the reply Eric, been a fan for a few years now, both because you’re a car nut, and you are in the “right side” politically. But I’m sick of compromise with lunatics who want to destroy everything that made our lives better in the 20th century, and they want to take away everything we enjoy about life, because these are miserable ppl and misery loves company. Any capitulation with these people is not seen as compromise, but weakness, and all they do is double down, are reneg, or weasel around any form of conorimise. With all due respect, you cannot compromise with lunatic cult people! It’s time we take it all back! Although I’m a GM loyalist, I do have a weakness for Mopars. Mopar had a real money making winner with the Hemi powered Challenger 2.0, the Charger and the Ram trucks. They need to sack up, and build em!
You bet, Vinny… and, I agree. No more ground given to these bastards. They are not well-meant but “mistaken” – or incompetent.
They are evil, vicious bastards. Some are Marxists; others just hate Western civilization. What matters is that they hate us – the middle and working classes especially. They need a binary society – oppressed and oppressors – with themselves on top as the arbiters and enforcers.
Amen brother!
Better than nothing, and if the rest don’t take similar action, they will be defunct.
These auto manufacturers are still in retreat from the male and female government workers who don’t care about anything more than their next paycheck. ‘Just doing my job of enforcing someone else’s opinion written down on paper.’ Despicable.
The more you wake up to the reality we’re living in (much thanks to Eric for helping in that regard) it’s like viewing Bozo Clown Show on the Ship of Fools sailing down the Rivers of Insanity heading toward the falls.
The whole Goddam thing is an illusion, government, authority.
Stay safe! Get your boosters!
Glad I got my Hemi sitting in my garage right now. 🙂
What an incredible waste of resources, having to manufacture EV’s that no one will buy so that they can make and sell cars that people actually want. Really puts the lie to being “sustainable” and exposes the evil control freaks behind all of this.
The automobile executives must be listening to Gerald Celente’s succinct message.
“Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?” – Gerald Celente
Purdy clear message, isn’t it?
There is always hope.
Eric,
Please don’t forget that Toyota and Mazda are holding the line too! Neither of the Japanese car companies are rushing to embrace EVs; both of them plan on producing ICEVs for the foreseeable future. So there’s that…
I am purchasing a Mazda CX30-Carbon Edition this weekend. A name like that is a great selling point!
I am purchasing a Mazda CX30-Carbon Edition this weekend. A name like that is a great selling point! Not only is this a great quality car, especially at Mazda’s modest price points for most of their model line up, but it fits the needs of my wife and I quite well. I perceive the Carbon Edition as the antithesis to the Prius. Just sayin……
Good stuff, Dr.Grandpa!
I have nothing negative to say about Mazda vehicles – and a lot to say about how great they are. Especially if you like style – and driving.
To a lot of Charger buyers, it’s the Hemi that makes the car. Without it? I am sure the hurricane is a nice engine, but still, it’s not a Hemi. It’s not a V8. It could be faster than the Hemi, but it’s not a V8.
The hurricane V6 has a place, but it’s not a top of the line engine. It should be their mid range engine. It should go in vehicles that are the right size for it, in place of undersized 2.0 liter engines.
Hopefully Dodge will grow a pair and bring back the Hemi. Very few Chargers will be electric. At least there is something in the mean time, but it’s malaise era version 2.
I drove a 22 V6 challenger GT for a week in Arizona last winter. Loaded with everything but the hemi.
It was absolutely stunning in deep dark red. Nice big trunk. Solid feel, PLENTY of passing power and surprisigly agile handling for close to two tons. Easy to straighten out on black ice.
The way I drove, its gas mileage was horrible. I had a blast! The screens dimmer was already broke and a confusing nightmare to navigate. The vehicle gave that same ol dodgy feel it wont last 25 years without constant love and attention.
Theres a place for this in a four door aka charger, but that new Lexus coupe is better for two.
Go Dodge for fighting to offer what people want, need and will actually buy. Shame on sell outs who roll over and die.
Amen, Rain!
We can beat them. We just have to stand fast – and not let them win.
Rich,
Yeah, you can get away with a six on the Charger’s twin, the Chrysler 300. It doesn’t belong in the Charger though; the Charger needs a V8 to be what it should be, to be what its buyers want.
As soon as they put the extra 2 doors on the Charger, it wasn’t a Charger any more. They should have called it the Newport, haha.
They did the Challenger correctly. It’s a good homage to the original.
You have a good point; real Chargers have TWO doors! The Challenger was a very faithful homage to the original.
I drove all 3 Detroit Muscle, and of them all, love the lumpy idol of the Hemi. If they were ever smart and made a convertible Challenger, I’d rock a manual 5.7 or somehow make the 6.4 work in my budget.
If I wanted a twin turbo 6, I’d get a Skyline GTR or a BMW with a N54. Twin turbo 6’s and Muscle instead of an 8 are like PB and Mayo, just no.
I’ll disagree that this is a step in the right direction. It’s a compromise, and when you compromise with thieves, you lose, and they win progressively. When we consider losing a fantastic V8 Hemi, and gaining a turbo 6 cylinder as a win, we have lost. Any concessions made to these agents of societal destruction should be considered absolute losses.
Dodge can no longer make the vehicles/engines that the market wants. Loss.
I’ll stand with you and cheer when I see one of these auto makers give the middle finger to these lunatics.
In the meantime, if I want a new car, I’ll build my own.
https://www.factoryfive.com/
Hi Philo,
I take your point. That said, I take it as a step in the right direction… and that’s a start. Dodge is a major player and for them to walk back the “commitment” to EVs is no small thing, in my view.
First one cracks, and then the deluge
I appreciate your optimism, Eric. It may seem like a step in the right direction, but it’s always 1 step forward, 2 steps back with these people. If Dodge had said “No, we are still going to make the V8 HEMI as an option because it’s what people want and because it sells. And we are going to make it more affordable by immediately stopping EV development” then that would be a true step forward. One unyielding example of courageousness, “damn the consequences” is often all it takes for others to see and join in, if the pandemic has taught me anything.
I hope you are right that this is going to get the ball rolling, but I have my doubts. It’s too weak. It’s a concession as I stated above.
” It’s a compromise, and when you compromise with thieves, you lose, and they win progressively.”
Absolutely correct. We compromised away everything this country supposedly stood for right down to our borders and laws.
One person,,, ONE PERSON, it seems,,, can now tell US border enforcement to disregard their purpose for existence. City and County elected officials now order law enforcement to stand down if protected groups are involved.
If borders are not enforced,,, if laws differ depending on the group,,, if our military stands with nazis and tyrants then its time to smell the roses folks…
Must have figured out the bottoming of electrical trash sales was going to hit their bottom line a little deeper than planned. Yeah that new battery tech is just around the corner. Well,,, that’s what you get when you allow a collection of idiots called government to determine your wants and needs for every little thing you do.
Yeah,,, a bunch of highfalutin Jezebels buying up seaside properties that were to be completely submerged by 2017. These same piranha fly their own fleet of jets telling us to give up internal combustion… for the cause. Now they say we are running low on food and need to eat z bugs when increasing the CO2 will double production of many plants. They burn down areas they want personally and blame global warming,,, then cordon off the areas to eliminate any investigation.
And now they have us within inches of annihilating each other in another useless war. Now would be a good time to start saying no to their bs.
Mopar has made, as mentioned, some great I-6 engines, like the Slant Six/Super Slant Six/HyperPak, Spitfire Six, and the Jeep 258/4.0. Here’s hoping the Hurricane I-6 is among them.
Also as mentioned, an I-6 engine in “FR” configuration is quite easy to work on—I remember as a kid literally crawling around under the hood of Dad’s F150 with its 300 I-6 to hold a flashlight while he worked on it.
Speaking of the cop market, I see that the Pennsylvania State Police just bought a lot of Dodge Chargers. Maybe they know something about the viability of the Ford Explorers over the long haul.
We can only hope.
My first car was a 75 Dart that had a 225 slant 6. I beat the hell out of that engine and it never quit. I eventually pulled it out and put in a 360 V8 and it was never as reliable after that.
States fleet of six figure mechanics to keep em roarin’ cant hurt either
So we get the GME-T6 Hurricane inline-six, likely with boost from a turbo that could provide enough air to give Ingersoll Rand a run for the money.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if they kept the V8 Hemi line going for crate engines? Someone buys a new GME-T6 (or heck, why not the turbo-4?) and a ATK High Performance Chrysler 5.7 Gen III Hemi 400 for an extra $5K. The dealer does a Yenko-upgrade in the back as part of the dealer prep.
Sure, you lose the factory waranty, but does that really matter at this level? The only people keeping them stock are going to put them in the wine cellar as an investment.
Stellantis wants to keep the cop car market. They’re the last one left producing a *car*.
The Explorer cop vehicles are starting to age out prematurely due to the maintenance issues, starting with the water pump replacement being a 12 hour job which cannot be handled by morons.
The Panther Crown Vic could be and was maintained by incompetent depot personnel who barely managed to perform oil changes properly. However, CAFE and Impeachment killed the return of the Crown Vic on a new platform.
Yeah, the I-6 is a lot easier to work on—much more space under the hood.
The Explorer V6 has the water pump located inside the engine, requiring partial disassembly for replacement. Compounding the replacement challenge is that the coolant seals are hand applied silicone and not a gasket. Replacing the water pump is not a job for amateurs.
The Explorer also had visibility issues and, depending on what you want to believe in the press, a carbon monoxide problem inside the cop versions following modifications.
Dodge Challengers were popular police car alternatives. We’ll see about the new version.
Nicely stated: “A battery powered device is favored hugely by the regs because of a legerdemain called “MPGe” that enables a battery powered device to tout spectacularly high mileage numbers that are supposedly equivalent to what a gas-burning vehicle would be, if it were as “efficient” as a battery powered device.”
MPGe is like the PCR test. MPGe shows every electric car as “fuel efficient” and the PCR test showed everybody as having the dreaded “covid.” In both cases the “tests” are engineered to generate their desired output. It’s an attempt to create their own reality.
The tide is turning against EVs. Even the old buff books like Car and Driver and Motortrend, who have become awful propaganda rags for the very thing that will kill their business (who wants to read Golf Cart and Passenger?) can’t conceal that these battery-powered devices go half as far and cost twice as much.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a40896618/ev-pickups-towing-test-hummer-rivian-lightning/
“The physics aren’t different from towing with an internal-combustion pickup; in both cases the range will be sliced roughly in half. But in the case of these EVs, that reduced figure can be barely three digits. And low-battery warnings start in at roughly 50 miles to empty, when the battery pack is still nearly half full. Even if you’re accepting of the lengthy recharging stops—which will be even longer due to the need to charge the battery further than when traveling unladen—most highway-adjacent charging doesn’t allow pull-through access. And disconnecting a trailer—especially one like this with a weight-distributing hitch—every couple of hours is a major hassle.”
The average consumer is finding out that they’ve been sold a bill of goods with this “electrification revolution.” Word of mouth crushes a business worse than anything and the word is: These electric devices are nigh useless for doing the everyday car things that even the most humble econobox can accomplish.
To justify Tesla’s stock price, investors have to believe it “can achieve very high volumes and high operating margins, akin to technology or software companies, not traditional auto companies,” said Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi.
Tesla “is increasingly looking like a regular auto company,” he said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/tesla-valuation-looks-unsustainable-to-wall-street-analysts/ar-AA1iwt4e
New and novel is valuable. Rven if it doesn’t turn a profit, there’s a trade. Tesla is now the old man of the EV market. And they haven’t updated their cars in a very long time, choosing to focus on software enhancements that aren’t working out. Remember they were the first out of the gate with full-autonomy, announcing the plan in 2013… then incrementally adding features in 2016, 2018, 2020, and the NHTSA ordered a recall/end in February of 2023.
But their cars’ “hardware” is basically the same as back in 2013. Batteries have improved incrementally but nothing like the gains usually made in Silly-Con valley. At least the people driving them are pretty well trained to deal with range anxiety so you don’t see as many on the backs of rolloffs anymore.
Well, the auto manufacturers, if they really wanted to sell IC engines, they should just make a bunch of Chevy Bolt sized vehicles for about 12k a piece with a 100 mile range and a 100 mph top speed. Sell them to government agencies and to the laundromat crowd. Make the batteries swapable at a 711 or a gas station. These should be rated at 150 mpg e or something stupid like that. At the same time, keep making real cars and trucks. The product planners have their heads stuck so far up their ass, the jaws of life couldn’t get it out. I never thought I’d see the day when a company like Chrysler would be beginning to figure it out.
The National Parks department is buying F-150 Lightnings. I saw one at Colorado National Monument over the summer. I’m going to guess the Lightning will only be deployed in very small NPS locations like Colorado National Monument, use around Washington DC, and Civil War battlefield sites. Places that are right up against cities. Places with any size to them, or out in the middle of nowhere, such as Dinosaur National Monument which is about 210,844 acres across two states, will continue to use gasoline vehicles for the forseeable future. And even if they wanted to install charging infrastructure at the visitors’ center and maintenance barns, they’d probably get overruled by the radical greens that run the parks.
The Bolt will be back.
Why GM is reviving the Bolt, the best-selling EV it almost discontinued
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/24/general-motors-chevrolet-bolt-ev-ultium.html
The government is dumb. All they need to do is outlaw gas stations and refuse to register gas vehicles. This can be done with the stroke of an executive order. No need to try to get auto manufacturers to comply, when you can force the auto consumers to comply. Easy-peasy. Did covid not teach the stupid shits in government anything?
Hi Pug,
Yes, but the problem is that’s much too obvious. The average person does not understand the effect that regulations have had on the pushing of EVs. They just think: “EVs are the future! Look, they’re everywhere!”
The tactic is thus brilliant in that it avoids the formation of opposition – or at least, greatly diminishes it.
I’m sure they will try and manufacture some kind of crisis to try and make that happen. The thing is, trust in government BS is at a lifetime low. It’s not low enough, but lower than I have seen since I was born during the Johnson years.
I think the big change now is that it was always assumed the bureaucracy was compentent, or at least there was enough of an element of compentency where it mattered. The civil service test was supposed to weed out the cronies. But in the 1980s it seemed like every department shifted away from helping to preventing. People took classes on the test itself and got highly specialized degress that would only be useful for becoming regulators. After TMI, the DOE shut down nuclear power. People who were lashing themselves to trees in the PNW got jobs with the Forest Service. And California Air Resources Board started meddling in engineering and production. Negative work. Openly against the will of the people. And hiding behind union protection.
That’s not to say they didn’t do some good. There really was a need to clean up tailpipe emmissions and get rid of smog. But that’s been done for 40 years now. The bureaucracy wants to make their mark the same way their predecessors did, problem is, there’s just not that much needs fixing. So the play up the doomsday scenario to justify rule changes that will never pass a cost-benefit analysis. And overreact when new technology comes along, forcing heavy-handed restrictions before understanding the new product.
They got away with it for a while thanks to cheap shipping and imports, but that’s done now. If we’re really reshoring production they’re going to have to play along or we’re doomed. For now they think thier salary can be printed out of thin air without any consequences, but at some point that won’t work… that might already be done. Eventually they’ll demand taxes (paid in hard currency) that just isn’t there. What then?
The writing is on the wall. If they didn’t do something different there would be no Dodges, Jeeps or Rams for sale in fairly short order. This is a bit of can kicking, since they had to raise prices to do it, but maybe the psyop will die before the can stops.
I think that’s the gist, John –
And: While I love V8s, a straight six is a sweet engine, too. And Mopar has a fine tradition of making great ones.
A Scottish Tesla owner’s car needs 20 K of repairs after sitting in the rain.
Bacigalupo told EdinburghLive the weather didn’t seem that bad — “I honestly can’t remember any huge puddles or anything like that”
https://www.wnd.com/2023/10/ev-wont-start-driving-rain-owner-left-speechless-stuck-20k-bill/
Thanks for posting this nugget, Landru –
Of course, the insurance mafia will attempt to make us all pay for this.
Wait until the bill hits for the recent hail storm in North Austin. Not only do we have many Tesla employees living up in the affected part of town, but the Model X seems to be the vehicle of choice for the growing H1B visa crowd working at HP Enterprise and Dell.
I’ve heard anecdotally that the Capos are making the Tesla owners offers they can’t refuse to total the vehicles, even recently purchased, for half of the price paid, even cars less than a year old.
My own experience with the storm? Hail beat up my 2001 Solara with 200,000+ miles but the engine still turns over like new so my daughter continues to drive it after replacing the windshield.
Capo Gecko’s arms length homeowner’s insurance provider only offered me about a third of the cost of fixing the house damage so I’m contemplating passing on that “assistance” with my roof and windows.
What I find surprising is that Dodge will be using the new GME-T6 Hurricane inline-six in RWD and AWD vehicles. I know Toyota did this earlier by using BMW engines but somehow it just seems wrong. If that’s what has to happen to avoid electrification; that’s life but stuff like that eventually killed off a lot of GM when the cars became cookie cutter copies of each other with different shades of icing. Time will tell I suppose.
Oops, my bad I thought it said GM-T6 Hurricane inline-six and not GME-T6 Hurricane inline-six. At least it’s a Dodge engine.