The automotive industry’s ever-changing world revolves around EVs

The automotive industry’s ever-changing world revolves around electric vehicles, and the Charger Daytona Banshee is a perfect example of that. Images: Josh Welton

“The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.”

Charles Kettering is the man behind these wise words, and he’s an appropriate source given our topic today. But more on Mr. Kettering and his engineering legacy later.

Late last summer, I attended Dodge’s Speed Week events at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Mich. For three straight nights, Dodge head honcho Tim Kuniskis unveiled Dodge's immediate and not-so-distant future vehicles, culminating with the big reveal of the all-electric, all-wheel drive, two-door Charger Daytona Banshee. Dodge, the brand built on screaming blowers sitting on bellowing V8s destroying drag strips, drifting corners, and smoking tires through middle America, has entered the EV chat.

So much of what has made Dodge one of the most successful modern performance vehicle brands, and one with a following of die-hard enthusiasts boiling over with passion bordering on religious fanaticism, is that its cars evoke emotion. Sinister styling, blackout-inducing acceleration, heavy metal rock ‘n’ roll engine noises, and the bond of a truly mechanized connection between man and machine that so many OEMs gave up on long ago. Of course, the Mopar flock fears that without an internal combustion engine, these cars will no longer harbor this soul. The burden of proof lies with Dodge to prove their congregation wrong.

They are tackling this task on all fronts.

The new carbon fiber-infused, glass-roofed Charger itself is beautiful, with a very muscle car-esque coke bottle silhouette and a “Greys of Thunder” paint job. The “R-Wing” at the front of the car allows the Daytona to keep a somewhat taller front-end presence while increasing aero efficiency. It’s an attractive feature named for Gary Romberg, the NASA rocket scientist who designed the aero-legend ‘70 Plymouth Superbird that NASCAR banned for being too badass. There’s also an unlockable “Slammed” mode to lower the car’s ride height. The 21-in. wheels are a retro-nod turbine design with center locks, and while the production version will have a bolt pattern in place of the race car hardware locks, I’ve heard the wheels look even more killer on the car you’ll be able to drive out of a showroom. They hide six-piston brakes, necessary for a vehicle that’ll weigh similar to a current ICE-powered SUV. The batteries are still heavy.

I think designers throughout the universe are excited about losing some of the constraints the ICE drivetrain puts on them while also crafting a package with which consumers can identify. The Daytona Banshee is technically a concept car, but the technology and its look will carry over to the production version.

The interior is wild, but like the Challengers and Chargers before it, the cockpit is driver-centric. There’s a head-up display (HUD), a curved 16-in. display behind the steering wheel, and the center display angles toward the driver. In the center console sits a red cap that, if you flip it up, reveals a “launch” button.

The carbon fiber body has connected circuitry-mimicking graphics embedded on the surface, creatively finishing the material. The seats have tiny “Fratzog” logos in the finish, and an old-school Mopar logo makes a comeback in the new Dodge EV. The vertical “slat” design that starts in the instrument panel slides into a more “technical” pattern inspired by the front grill of the ‘68 Dodge Charger. One of my favorite features is the “infinity mirror” style see-through center divider between the seats, and the colors throughout are customizable.

The rear seats that can fold flat and the rear hatch design gives the car a ton of cargo room. Considering I swap out welding gas bottles with the Demon, I think I’ll find this feature pretty useful! And given that it will be AWD, I’ll be able to comfortably drive it in the winter while I stash the Demon for warmer weather.

Inside of the Charger Daytona Banshee

The sound is a work in progress, literally. Due to some last-minute issues, they ran the car’s “exhaust” noise through the set’s speaker system for the unveiling. This was probably a mistake, considering how much the team behind the vehicle wants to distance their new EV from the idea of purely synthetic noises emanating from the car’s sound system. Electric motors are quiet, but not silent, especially when wound up for performance. There’s still some secrecy due to pending patents, but the “Fratzonic chambered exhaust” uses baffles and air movement to amplify sounds the EV already makes. The results will be an “exhaust” note that’s as loud as a current Challenger Hellcat.

Looking good and sounding good is only part of the checklist enthusiasts want to mark off, though. With EVs, the performance is a given, and the 800-volt SRT Daytona Banshee will be no exception. The Tesla Plaid’s quarter-mile time is 9.1 seconds, and Dodge will not settle for slower than the Plaid. A current Charger Hellcat will do 200+ MPH, and the Dodge Banshee reportedly will best the Hellcats in “every performance category,” so expect at least a 210-MPH top speed. But the feeling of speed and the G forces of absurd acceleration is only part of the desired experience.

And where those feelings end, the eRupt and Powershot take over.

The eRupt is a multispeed transmission with an electro-mechanical shifting experience that’s pure Dodge. Dodge is trying to take an inherently dull aspect of an EV that doesn’t need to shift and rework the connection between pilot and hot rod, a link necessary to bridge the gap between riding in an appliance and driving a weaponized mechanical devil. This is maybe the feature I’m most curious about, and the execution of eRupt might be the most important “feel” aspect that Dodge needs to nail on its first EV.

To that end, there is also the Powershot feature which serves as kind of like a shot of nitrous; it is power reserved up until that time when you need to pass traffic … or put more distance between you and whatever is in the rearview mirror.

At the event, it was also revealed that there would be nine power modes split up into stages as Mopar has done in the past. I believe the first three are standard. Or is it the three at launch plus nine through Mopar’s Direct Connection?

“The Charger Daytona will launch with three power levels, all the way up to this 800-V Banshee system,” Kuniskis said during the event. “But we’re also developing nine power levels through Direct Connection.”

How much of this power will be unleashing the car’s potential with keystrokes and software updates, versus how much will require additional hardware upgrades is unclear for now too.

“Direct Connection is also going to allow our drivers to unlock the features they want, like a slam mode, drift mode, drag mode, and yep, even a donut mode,” added Kuniskis.

Now, these modes sound like features that’ll be available with Over the Air updates, either as part of the Power Stages or by themselves. These OTAs, along with current practices by other OEMs, raised concerns amongst some enthusiasts that these would be subscription based and not one-time purchases. I’m not gonna say anything officially, but I have it on good authority that they will not be bought by a monthly or yearly fee but as a one-time buy, which is good news for the consumer.

As a quick aside, there have been rumors that the Street and Racing Technology (SRT) division is dead. The badging on the Daytona Banshee seems to confirm that the SRT ethos is alive and well.

Listen, change is hard. I’ve witnessed it in the fabrication industry as welders went from being transformer-based to inverter-based. Old timers either refused to switch or would tune their new machines to run like the old ones despite the decreased performance it caused. “They sound funny” or “run different” or “there are too many adjustments available” or “they won’t run as long” but sooner or later they all saw the light.

Hell, look at the history of cars. One of the main talking points from EV haters right now is the idea that the push toward electric cars is “all politics.” Well, yeah, a big part of it is. Do you know what else was politically motivated as the government forced OEMs to build more efficient engines? Electronic fuel injection. Hotrodders everywhere bemoaned the shift and said they’d never convert. Yet while carbs can still be fun, how many people do you know who daily drive a carbureted car? I mean, outside of your Uncle Joe, who still rocks a mullet and drives his sweet big block Camaro? Even in automotive racing, outside of niche classes, nobody runs carbs. It is a technology that was replaced mainly due to government regulations and was made completely obsolete by the new tech becoming superior in nearly every way.

No, the infrastructure is not currently strong enough to instantly flip from all ICE to all EV-powered automobiles. Battery technology is still a work in progress. That’s why this is a process. There’s even still a good chance that EVs are a stopgap, or just part of the solution, as hydrogen or synthetic fuels develop. I can’t predict the future. But that’s not going to stop me from enjoying all the fun stuff that pops out of this revolution.

As a funny aside, my wife Darla and I were interviewed by Michael Wayland of CNBC, and he was rendered nearly speechless that I, a Demon aficionado, would also be enthusiastic about EVs. It has gotten to the point in our country where we’re forced into one of two ideologies and each one tries to be a gatekeeper for what we’re allowed to like. Screw that noise. No agenda is gonna stop me from deciding what I like.

I said I’d get back to Kettering. He developed electrical systems that replaced dangerous hand crank car starters, provided spark, and powered lights. He also did a lot of work on fuel and additives and octane ratings for more efficiency (before octane ratings were known as such), but also led the charge for lead in fuel and the campaign to declare it safe, which it absolutely wasn’t. Same with using Freon in cooling systems. He did much (much) more, both good and bad, and to be honest, that’s how the industry has always progressed.

Change isn’t coming, it's here. And it always has been.