When nostalgia takes hold of us: there are already electric cars with exhaust pipes that sound like a gasoline engine
Published by The team in News the 20/08/2022 at 13:43
This week, Dodge unveiled a preview of its upcoming first electric car, the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept. It is an electric car with two motors, one per axle, and of which little is known.
It is speculated that it could equip a battery of at least 100 kWh, and in principle it will provide more than 700 hp , according to the brand. But it stands out above all for being the most vintage electric car that can exist.
It's full of nods to the brand's past, both in design, name and equipment: it has a multi-speed gearbox and even an exhaust that emulates the sound of the mighty Brand V8 Hellcat . Yes, electric. Why did Dodge dare such an oxymoron on wheels?
Currently, Dodge essentially lives on Dodge Chargers, Challengers and Durangos equipped with V6s, as entry-level models, and powerful V8s, sometimes with outputs above 800 hp. Dodge's current clientele and image are those of the greatest exponent of old-school muscle cars.
Muscle cars , in the 1950s and 1960s, were the more powerful versions of more mundane models. For example, the Ford Mustang or Chevrolet Camaro, which were pony cars , became muscle cars once the Mustang passed through Shelby's hands or Chevrolet dropped the biggest engine it had in the era in the Camaro S/S or the Z28.
The best of both worlds
How do you attract these people to the electric car, which is fundamentally quiet and refined? Combining the best of all worlds in one car and, in principle, letting each user decide what they prefer.
On the one hand, we have the sound of the V8 artificially generated but diffused through a very real exhaust. The sound, Dodge spokesman David Elshoff explained, is not obtained by sampling the noise of electric motors, but rather the system generates a synthetic rumble based on the "cadence of a Hemi V8".
A transducer manipulates this sound based on throttle position, vehicle speed, and other parameters, and sends the signal to an amplifier which spits it out through a fairly conventional exhaust , much like a wind instrument . One that can reach 126 dB at full throttle.
And on the other hand, we have the kick in the buttocks with each acceleration of an electric, in theory amplified with the gear changes. Most electric cars have a single-speed transmission (except the Porsche Taycan , which has a two-speed automatic). The Charger Daytona SRT features an "electromechanical multi-speed transmission" called eRupt.
The objective is to give the regular of a muscle car the same sensations in the electric car as in a classic of the brand . speed and acceleration? Yes, kick ass? Yes, and twice. The V8 roars? Shit yeah! Sorry if.
What if you just want a fast and stylish electric? It's an electric car, so more than any other car, software controlled and you can override all those functions with a simple button, or in the touchscreen menu.
The rise of neo-retro design or the fear of tomorrow
The Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept is actually in no man's land. He pushes the concept of neo retro design, or post modernism , as it is also known, to extremes never seen before. And basically, that's perhaps the clearest example of why vintage , retro is so popular and commercially successful.
The Dodge Challenger, Ford Bronco , Ford Mustang, and Alpine A110 are the most recent examples in the automotive world. But it is not something that is only appreciated in this industry. One only has to look at the success that vinyl records are experiencing again, when we thought they were dead and buried first by CDs and then by streaming.
Something similar is also happening in fashion, like Adidas re-editing the Stan Smith or the rise of vintage clothing stores. And of course, it's also enjoyed in popular culture with movies and TV, with remakes and sequels of classics or proposals set in the '80s (Hello, 'Stranger Things').
One would think that all this is due to a lack of creativity. At the end of the day, if something worked, just update something. Lo and behold, we have a winning product.
However, whether you are a car manufacturer or the head of a movie studio, these decisions are not made lightly. They have already consulted dozens of clinical, market and trend studies. In addition, design is one of the main motivations for purchase , in all areas but especially in the automotive industry. A design is not approved just for fun.
One of the reasons that could explain the interest in drawings and evocations of the past would be the need that part of the public has to find reference points, like looking for meaning in the product .
And since our mind tends to idealize a past that we believe is better, when it might not even be remotely so, whether we lived it or not, almost any product that evokes a so- saying better are appreciated.
The future is by definition uncertain. And in the automotive sector, even more. They tell us that in a few years all cars will be electric, with all the conditions and limitations that this implies at the user level. Not to mention the fear it arouses economically: what will happen to car factories? Will there be enough power for everyone?
In the face of so much uncertainty, there's something comforting about a Jeep, with its iconic design, or a Dodge Charger. You already know what they are, we know them and there are no surprises.
Not everyone has this need, of course. There are those who do not see the future as something uncertain or worrying. Hence the success of brands like Tesla. Or brands that offer electric cars committed to avant-garde design, such as the Kia EV6 , the Hyundai Ioniq 5 or the Lucid Air .
Who will drive the point home, those who advocate nostalgia or those who see the future as exciting and new? Time will tell us.
