As the automotive world continues its slow turn to electric vehicles, the future prospects for large, power-driven internal combustion engines have become slimmer. But instead of mourning the loss of the company’s most successful marketing efforts, Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis does not sound at all like the Hellcat V8 is a dying race.
“The days of an iron block that is 6.2 liters V-8 are numbered,” Kuniskis said CNBC during a recent video interview. ‘They are absolutely numbered because of all the compliance costs. But the performance that those vehicles deliver is not numbered. ”
This is the last part that is most fascinating: the Hellcat days are numbered, not because consumers do not want it, but it will mean that the engines no longer exist.
In fact, Kuniskis notes that the Hellcat exceeded expectations.
“What Hellcat did is a lot more than what our initial expectations were, because it’s a lot more than what a traditional, very high finish does,” Kuniskis said. ‘In the last five years, we have sold more than 50,000 Hellcats. It’s a lot of Hellcats in five years if you think you know the price point of that car. ”
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Kuniskis compares this situation to the late 1970s, when The Powers That Be began regulating muscle motors – but he hopes it will not take decades to recover this time.
Part of it will be to figure out what the Hellcat name means, mainly by starting a transition from especially combustion engines and rather emphasizing the overall work performance. This is a bold concept, as most car enthusiasts will find it difficult to disconnect ‘Hellcat’ from ‘a big, greasy engine’. But I have to admit that performance in some cases and not just the economy is important, will be an important factor in getting the same enthusiasts with electric vehicles on board.
There’s no hard timeline yet, but if the Hellcat name ends up on an EV, don’t say Kuniskis didn’t tell you.