CHICAGO, Ill. (WTVO) — Dodge has apparently updated the “exhaust note” of its upcoming Charger Daytona SRT Banshee electric vehicle to more closely resemble that of a V8 muscle car.
At the Chicago Auto Show last week, the concept vehicle made an appearance, but the sound it makes now roars with a lower-pitched rumble.
Electric motors are typically very quiet compared to an internal combustion engine, but Dodge says it is patenting a “Fratzonic exhaust system” for the Charger Daytona to give owners the muscle car experience.
After the car was unveiled last year, initial reviewers complained that the sound was akin to what a cat makes when its tail has been stepped on. Dodge has been tweaking that sound ever since, arriving at a still-work-in-progress, muscular sound that was heard in Chicago.
The Fratzonic system has a tailpipe and an underbody chamber with baffles with a piston that moves air through the baffles to create a sound that should approximate the way an engine revs. Dodge has compared the way the system works as similar to a pipe organ.
The car has also been announced to use a multi-speed transmission, although electric cars typically only have one gear, but Dodge says it wants the Charger EV to give drivers the physical impact of gear changes as it accelerates.
At last November’s SEMA aftermarket show in Las Vegas, Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis said electric vehicles have the potential to perform better than gas muscle cars with fast acceleration. But he said they are kind of sterile. “It doesn’t have the emotion. It doesn’t have the drama. It doesn’t have the kind of dangerous feeling that ICE (an internal combustion engine) has when it’s loud and rumbling and shifting and moving the car around.”
Stellantis says it will stop making gasoline versions of the Dodge Challenger and Charger muscle cars and the Chrysler 300 large car by the end of next year.
One reason for the industry shift is that electric vehicles are simply faster off the starting line. Their handling is typically better, too, because their heavy batteries create a low center of gravity.
Stricter government pollution requirements are another factor, too. As automakers in the U.S. face more stringent fuel-economy requirements adopted by the Biden administration and produce a broader range of EV vehicles, they will have to jettison some of their gas-fueled muscle-car models.
Dodge plans to offer limited edition “Last Call” models of its gas-powered Charger and Challenger cars in 2023, before they are discontinued for EV replacements.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
