Electric vehicles and the future of hot rodding

Dodge Demon and Tesla

As our society progresses and transportation technology advances to build power more efficiently via any means necessary, I can’t help but ponder the place automotive aesthetics holds in my heart. While many humans are content with just getting from point A to point B, gearheads are concerned with the journey more than the destination. I’d like to attempt to reconcile what draws enthusiasts like myself to the hot rod culture with the direction the industry seems to be headed.

The internal combustion engine (ICE) is a bomb factory producing a surfeit of explosions, blasts creating energy from fuel and fire to spin shafts connected to gears, then wheels, which push against the ground to affect a vehicle’s status of motion relative to earth. This is an inherently messy process, but through the years car manufacturers have streamlined the drivetrain system to reduce noise, smell, and grime.

Those who see the car as an appliance are very happy with this evolution. Be that as it may, I prefer my machines a bit more old-school, raw. A few late-model cars, like my Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, are still pretty loud from the factory. The giant 2.7L supercharger screams, the 6.2L V8 roars. My truck was pretty quiet when new, but with a few simple modifications, the decibel level shoots upwards and my happiness does too. The sound and the fury is an integral part of the hot rod experience.

With the advent of the electric vehicle (EV) era, the potential for noise will drastically change. They are naturally quiet, to the point where the government is mandating sound be added for safety purposes at low speeds, i.e., so the blind have some warning of an oncoming EV when crossing a street.

Hot rodding, however, isn’t just about noise. Ultimately, power and speed are main components of the visceral experience, and EVs can produce both in spades. Electric motors give instant torque with zero lag in relation to ICEs. A car like Tesla’s Model S P100D is a silent assassin, hitting 0-60 MPH in 2.5 seconds, just a touch slower than the Demon, which is the quickest production car in the world. There’s something to be said about feeling acceleration at that level, and the aftermarket performance car industry is just starting to scratch the surface of what speed freaks can do to make EV g-forces even more brutal.

While hanging out with Dodge and SRT’s head of design Mark Trostle, who also happens to be a performance and muscle car enthusiast, we wondered about the future of hot rodding relative to ICEs and EVs.

I asked him if there’s a chance we could see a hybrid muscle car:

“I definitely think electrification is gonna play a huge role in the next generation of automobiles. From a performance side of things, I think there’s probably some cool parts that will help make a car go even faster. From a visceral side of it, I like the fact that when I start the Demon it gives me goosebumps because of the way it sounds and smells. I think there are still a whole lot of people like you and me in this world, and we’re gonna be around for a long time. As long as there is a need and a desire for it, there’ll be a supply for it. Maybe electric motors can help assist and make a V8 car even quicker and make an internal combustion engine even faster, without losing those emotional sounds.”

Is the dominance of the EV a foregone conclusion? Is the ICE actually going anywhere anyway?

“I think everyone wrote off V8s in the ʼ70s, right? That was the ‘heyday of the muscle car era.’ But to me the Golden Age is right now. To me the muscle car era is right now and it’s better than it ever was, because these cars assist you in braking; they have navigation and every creature comfort you could potentially need. And they’re even faster, they get better gas mileage, and they are better for the environment.”

Dodge demon engine

Is there a more visceral experience to be had with an electric motor that we just haven’t tapped into yet?

“I think there’s probably a place for it, if you look at the kind of torque you can get out of an electric motor. It could be a phenomenal assist to a gasoline engine. I think no matter what ends up being produced, that hot rod spirit will never go away. And I think that even if it’s a full electric vehicle, some hot rodder is gonna figure out how to make it go even faster. I think that’s part of the nature of people who like speed, who like cars, and who like to go fast.”

I wondered out loud if we always loved the noise of a big block V8, or did we evolve to dig it. Trostle brought up Formula 1 racing. Those cars are propelled by tiny I6 turbo charged engines that whine, or scream, more than roar. It’s a completely different sound than, say, a 5.5L V8-powered Chevy Corvette built for Le Mans models, but it’s satisfying all the same.

When I think back to the first time I drove an M1 Abrams, the thing that stood out to me the most was the beautiful furor blasting from the giant turbine engine. It spins up sounding like a jet fighter, but the feeling is so odd because instead of taking flight, the 70-ton tank lurches forward. The juxtaposition between what my brain had been conditioned to associate with that noise and what my body actually felt was stark, yet ultimately just as intoxicating.

Trostle said, “Does there become this mechanical sound that emerges because of the technology that all of a sudden gives you that same sensation? Why does a V8 sound make the hair on your arms stand up? Because we’ve grown to know what it is. So it’ll be interesting to see how that evolves.”

All images courtesy of Josh Welton, Brown Dog Welding.

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