A "muscle car" is not just about performance numbers.
It's about combustion, noise, smell, glorious inefficiency, and nostalgia--none of which even the highest performing EV can deliver.
I can kinda see how, if you were already playing fake engine sounds on your IC cars, and people who reviewed your EV muscle car were saying "I miss the iconic engine sound" you might feel adding engine sounds to an EV was worth a try.
Straight line speed and acceleration is nice but it's like 20% of the experience. Most car enthusiasts evolve beyond this as their #1 priority once they graduate from high school.
When I tell them that no current electric car could replace my MX-5 ND and try to explain why, their eyes glaze harder than ceramic.
I would cheekily suggest the next step isn’t a car, it’s a motorcycle.
My one pedal drive Model 3 is also a blast, it handles like nothing I've ever driven. Not having to wait beat to get the engine in the powerband is amazing.
I sometimes miss the extra puzzle of shifting gears to keep the engine on the cam, but most days you're just rowing through gears on the commute home (which is now fairly stress-free thanks to FSD).
(I rode motorcycles exclusively for years before I got my first car, from an R69S to Yamaha 180 scooter and lots in between.)
I understand the joy of an ICE (the noise, the vibrations) but for driving I now purely prefer EVs. I live in the mountains, and always having the maximum power available whatever the speed is soo much fun in the winding roads. Now I find ICEs underperforming and boring.
Acceleration and speed are nice to have but there are speed limits so they don't matter much. Any car from this century has enough HPs to reach the limit quickly (skip the very small and very cheap ones with 600 cc engines or less.)
And about noise, I'm probably nearly alone in this cohort: it's a technological accident. The more silent a car is, the happier I am. Note that everybody in car races work with earplugs to protect themselves. If only we could make wheels roll much more silently.
My point was that there are several other muscle car salient properties that EVs can never offer.
but silent thief / killer car like Q8 in The Peripheral 2022, sales will be thru roof.
It fascinates me how the ICE community is sort of just ignoring the reality that electric vehicles absolutely dominate the track now. I have a feeling it's kind of like Wiley Coyote running past the cliff and not falling down. It may take a couple decades, but eventually ICE vehicles are going to be relegated to Saturday morning car shows because they will just be so utterly inferior to even run-of-the-mill electrics.
But the feel of a muscle car is a lot of the appeal. It’s like the draw of a Miata isn’t about performance, either.
True gearheads may not care which EV gets down the line quicker. That’s just one part of the equation.
Then again, in a highly surveilled and monitored society, a Hayabusa or something similar more revered makes zero sense since you can’t use the performance legally.
The Harley guys are having a lot of fun at modest speeds and the ‘busa riders are either frustrated or getting arrested. So which of these makes more sense?
You simply can’t use the performance legally and it’s a lot slower than the Charger R/T.
The main reason the ICE V8 is preferred is nothing to do with the performance. It’s like a Harley Davidson. The fun is in the noise, the drama and the authenticity.
You can’t fake that big American V8 snarl.
Trying to fake it was never going to work.
The point is, the EVs have incredible acceleration but nobody gives a flying fart because it has all the drama of toasting bread.
Go try a V8 with a proper supercharger on it. I bet at least 1 EV genius would convert after the first ride. Nothing compares. The EV is faster, but it will never feel that fast.
For me, it's about being in control of a complex thermodynamic engine. When you add an additional element that the brain can use as feedback (the whine of the blower) it makes the experience much more engaging.
If it had a BYD badge it would sell in the millions.
100% pure copium: "The main reason the ICE V8 is preferred is nothing to do with the performance. It’s like a Harley Davidson. The fun is in the noise, the drama and the authenticity." "You can’t fake that big American V8 snarl." "A "muscle car" is not just about performance numbers. It's about combustion, noise, smell, glorious inefficiency, and nostalgia--none of which even the highest performing EV can deliver." "People who want muscle cars want to show off power."
It's true though. Their charm is the theater and ability to tinker. It's the difference between a utility car and a hobby car. If you want utility fast, get a bike or a cheap PoS and save your money for speeding tickets.
If they sold that here in Australia and it was a reasonable price/range there is a very good chance I'd buy one.
Edit: oh.. 350km ish.. and for $73k US?!?! That like a $130k Aud.. I bought a MG4 EV capable of the same range for $31k 6 months ago.. sorry but even those looks are not enough to make me want to buy one for almost 4x the price!
brr, ugh
codingdave•8mo ago
palmfacehn•8mo ago
nebula8804•8mo ago
The problem is even though there are better options, prices are still too high and we are in a moment where people are cash poor. Therefore practical vehicles (Prius, Rav4 Hybrid) sell well while cars that might evoke excitement in good times but are poor investments (anything Stellantis makes) are just sitting on dealership lots.
Alive-in-2025•8mo ago
nebula8804•8mo ago
Given what they have learned over the last 8 or so years, of course the upcoming Bolt will be much better but my point was that the first (and second) gen Bolt was a rush job. In terms of sales I guess it depends on what the expectations were but a Tesla killer it was not.
ben_w•8mo ago
Stellantis? Surprised they have a bad reputation on cost (or, conversely, a reputation for evoking excitement), but I guess export market is different from domestic. Isn't Dacia part of that group? Seeing a lot with that badge here in Germany these days (even in Brandenburg, which is former DDR and therefore low GDP/capita).
nebula8804•8mo ago
Oh sorry I was referring to what is sold in the US.
When you are not unique in cost, efficiency, reliability, what do you have left? Make something that is cool.
If you want to sum up their US lineup in two videos just watch the following lol
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IB4qS9Lv5Mo
[2]: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MI_6FrQDrVw
AnthonyMouse•8mo ago
What's likely to happen is one of two things.
Either the battery prices continue to come down, in which case EVs will get cheap enough that customers will be demanding them for cost reasons.
Or the battery prices don't come down and then people start to realize that the most attractive thing in that environment is a plug-in hybrid, because they can run in full electric mode most of the time but you can put in half as much battery as a full EV and not have any trouble with range. And they can be faster than anything else because they have two power plants.
But that's only 95% of the market. The 5% that not only wants a snarling V8 but wants it bad enough to actually buy one? They want something that makes an obnoxious noise, and a fake obnoxious noise isn't going to suit. Which is why nobody is buying this Charger.