Mopar Teases Electric Crate Swap, Maybe
The annual SEMA show in Las Vegas is rapidly approaching, meaning car companies will surely be dangling umpteen teaser images of what they’ve in store for this soirée in the desert. Stellantis is usually good for an outrageous reveal or three, and they’ve started off this year with an electrified bang.
There isn’t a ton of information to go on in this promotional shot – but there’s more than enough to make a few educated guesses. The slab-flat hood definitely looks like a late-‘60s Charger, given the scalloped lines and overall shape. Peeking through one of the four hood vents are indications of electrification, or at least a CGI representation thereof, with a few blue lights and who-know-what else.
Less subtle clues are in Mopar’s declaration its fans should “get ready for a jolt” and promises that a “serious charge” is coming from the company. That’s about as understated as a frying pan to the face, which is actually par for the course for the likes of Mopar. Beyond the image and dad-joke-level PR copy, we’re left to speculate.
Which, of course, we are only too glad to do. Since the photo shows what really appears to be a classic Dodge or Plymouth instead of something modern, we feel this is not a production-ready variant of the upcoming Charger Daytona which was making the auto show rounds in recent times. Rather, there’s every chance in the world we’re looking at a teaser shot for the announcement of an EV crate powertrain, perhaps something of an answer to what GM Performance is hawking with their eCrate line of power solutions.
Some of those offerings from The General include parts of the entire package whilst others include the whole kit and kaboodle: battery, motor system, the works. For example, one solution has a 66-kWh lithium-ion pack and 400-volt electric drive motor designed to connect directly to a GM 4-speed automatic transmission. The unit belts out 200 horsepower and 266 lb-ft of torque, far less than most built V8 engines but more than enough to shove something along on a Friday night cruise. Just be prepared for backlash when you open its hood at the Tastee Freez.
The 2023 SEMA Show is being held October 31 – November 3 in Las Vegas.
[Image: Mopar]
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Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.
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- JMII I think most are missing the point. This is not to power your house, the way I read it the concept is store electrons when production of them is not in demand, IE: over night. Then when everyone walks up and turns on the blender, coffee maker, toaster, TV, etc and electrons are suddenly in high demand you can sell them back from the storage location which is your EV just sitting in the garage. This way the grid is not overwhelmed. It could work, you would be paid to let someone "borrow" your electrons at peak until you could recharge during downtime. Due to surge / demand pricing you would buy low and sell high. I see this working best for people working from home or accessing a plug at work. After all your vehicle spends 90% of its time parked doing nothing and going nowhere. Why not get paid for that idle time? A simple app would could be programmed to cut off the transfer at a predetermined level, lets 30-50% charge so you could still drive home.The lack of outside the box thinkers on this site is getting depressing. Everything regarding EVs is always the worst idea ever 🙄
- 1995 SC It runs Linux. Why brick it? Just let the open source community have at it.
- Dave M. Except for some iconic names (Jeep, Ram), Stellanis is circling the drain here in the US. Fiat is a non-entity, Alfa is a boutique brand as will be Dodge with their new EV line up, and Chrysler sadly no longer matters selling one vehicle. All Stellanis products are 20-25% off locally. Sad but it's the circle of life, given the rise of many newer brands in the last 20 years (H-K specifically).
- Tassos Jong-iL This would not be tolerated in the Kingdom of One Korea.
- Tassos Jong-iL I will be bringing one of these to the capital palace. We plan on evaluating them for our ground invasion plans of South Korea.
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I think you'll see a price drop of around 25% in the future but you won't see a crash either.
Interest in pre-1975 vehicles among Millennials and GenX people isn't that soft, they just don't tend to attend car shows or car clubs.
Good.