Photo: kai__kh/instagram
For some aficionados, the ongoing electrification process of the muscle car segment is a bit like the switch from carburetors to fuel injection that took place back in the day: different ways of experiencing the same thrills. Of course, other enthusiasts wish to stick to the V8 rumble alone, so how do you navigate this era of profound transformation in the industry? Well, the independent rendering we have here, which portrays nothing less than an all-electric Dodge Charger SUV, gives us an opportunity to zoom in on the topic.
Automotive designer Kaihang Huang came up with the pixel portrait as a spare-time effort. And we can regard this work as portraying one of the pathways Fiat Chrysler could take in the just-around-the-corner Stellantis age; with the merger between Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot Citroen having been approved by shareholders earlier this week, it's obvious that Dodge needs a new muscle car strategy in a market where SUV and crossovers continue to gain popularity and emission regulations only get stricter.
Meanwhile, the Mopar people are on top of their muscle game, with their unapologetically muscular ads being backed by impressive sales numbers. Despite the current Challenger being more than a decade old, the 2020 sales figures show it left the Camaro trailing in its wake (52,955 vs. 29,775 units) while not sitting as far from the Mustang as you might expect (the latter won the sales battle by 8,135 units).
However, back in July when Dodge dropped the HEMI bombs that are the 710 horsepower 2021 Durango SRT Hellcat and the 807-pony Challenger SRT Super Stock, FCA North America Head of Passenger Cars Tim Kuniskis opened up about the company's electrification plans.
"I think the absolute future is electrification of these cars," Kuniskis told Automotive News. "That's not necessarily bad. It could be [battery electric], it could be [plug-in hybrid], it could be regular hybrid, could be e-axles, any one of the number of electric technologies. But I am a firm believer that electrification will be the key to high performance in the future."
The executive believes that customers will continue to pursue the muscle vibes delivered by the Challenger and the Charger in the era of electron juice, naming the prohibitive costs of the new tech as the barrier for this.
We have to keep in mind that FCA and BMW have both signed an agreement with ZF for the fourth generation of the 8HP eight-speed automatic transmission, which comes with a built-in electric motor.
And with the new transmission, whose current version can be found on all Dodge models, set to enter production in 2022 in Germany, America and China, it's reasonable to talk about how the U.S. carmaker's engineers are currently working to bring the new hardware into the mix.
Then again, this rendering takes things in a more radical direction, one that's not unlike the strategy Ford has already started deploying for the Mustang. While 2022 will bring us the next generation of the pony, the Blue Oval has already introduced the Mustang Mach-E electric crossover, which helps the badge deal with the two major market challenges mentioned above.
Naturally, Dodge could keep its family of muscle cars alive by mixing a high-riding EV with a new generation of muscle cars that would be closer to the traditional values of current models.
As opposed to the design proposals that eventually led to the production Mach-E, which had a clear road car bias, the approach used by this rendering shows a tougher look, with bolder wheel arches and larger wheels; sure, the slim sidewalls of the tires have "asphalt duties" written all over them, but a different wheel/tire combo could easily allows the proposal to approach rugged terrain.
While most of the classic styling cues of the current Challenger have been maintained, when it comes to the futuristic side of this visual affair, the heavy lifting is done by the infinity-style light clusters, as well as by the revised lower fascias.
Now, before you check out the various details of this rendering in the Instagram post below, we'll mention a few details about the mind behind the pixels.
In the journey from his native China to the U.S., where the artist is currently based, his roles involved that of an exterior designer at GAC Motor China, as well as multiple Italian adventures: interior designer at Toyota Boshoku, exterior design intern at Suzuki, and automotive design collaborator for Pininfarina.
Meanwhile, the Mopar people are on top of their muscle game, with their unapologetically muscular ads being backed by impressive sales numbers. Despite the current Challenger being more than a decade old, the 2020 sales figures show it left the Camaro trailing in its wake (52,955 vs. 29,775 units) while not sitting as far from the Mustang as you might expect (the latter won the sales battle by 8,135 units).
However, back in July when Dodge dropped the HEMI bombs that are the 710 horsepower 2021 Durango SRT Hellcat and the 807-pony Challenger SRT Super Stock, FCA North America Head of Passenger Cars Tim Kuniskis opened up about the company's electrification plans.
"I think the absolute future is electrification of these cars," Kuniskis told Automotive News. "That's not necessarily bad. It could be [battery electric], it could be [plug-in hybrid], it could be regular hybrid, could be e-axles, any one of the number of electric technologies. But I am a firm believer that electrification will be the key to high performance in the future."
The executive believes that customers will continue to pursue the muscle vibes delivered by the Challenger and the Charger in the era of electron juice, naming the prohibitive costs of the new tech as the barrier for this.
We have to keep in mind that FCA and BMW have both signed an agreement with ZF for the fourth generation of the 8HP eight-speed automatic transmission, which comes with a built-in electric motor.
And with the new transmission, whose current version can be found on all Dodge models, set to enter production in 2022 in Germany, America and China, it's reasonable to talk about how the U.S. carmaker's engineers are currently working to bring the new hardware into the mix.
Then again, this rendering takes things in a more radical direction, one that's not unlike the strategy Ford has already started deploying for the Mustang. While 2022 will bring us the next generation of the pony, the Blue Oval has already introduced the Mustang Mach-E electric crossover, which helps the badge deal with the two major market challenges mentioned above.
Naturally, Dodge could keep its family of muscle cars alive by mixing a high-riding EV with a new generation of muscle cars that would be closer to the traditional values of current models.
As opposed to the design proposals that eventually led to the production Mach-E, which had a clear road car bias, the approach used by this rendering shows a tougher look, with bolder wheel arches and larger wheels; sure, the slim sidewalls of the tires have "asphalt duties" written all over them, but a different wheel/tire combo could easily allows the proposal to approach rugged terrain.
While most of the classic styling cues of the current Challenger have been maintained, when it comes to the futuristic side of this visual affair, the heavy lifting is done by the infinity-style light clusters, as well as by the revised lower fascias.
Now, before you check out the various details of this rendering in the Instagram post below, we'll mention a few details about the mind behind the pixels.
In the journey from his native China to the U.S., where the artist is currently based, his roles involved that of an exterior designer at GAC Motor China, as well as multiple Italian adventures: interior designer at Toyota Boshoku, exterior design intern at Suzuki, and automotive design collaborator for Pininfarina.
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