Thats all fine and dandy and while I wholeheartedly agree, everyone here ignores the reality going on around them. The GOVT is FORCING this bullshit on us with rediculously High CAFE standards on the way that NO ONE can meet, and NO GASOLINE engines by 2035 etc etc. Do you really think Kuniskis and Dodge want the hellcat gravy train to end? They gotta be making $$ hand over fist with this 14 year old platform selling it with a tupperware interior for $100k. BUT what you suggest them doing will put them out of business Govt Regulations and fines would see to that.
Several problems exist. Mopar doesnt have any small fuel efficient vehicles to compensate for the near zero MPG trucks, jeeps and V8 cars they do make so they are paying millions in fines and or carbon credits to Tesla and the competition to make up for missing MPG targets and keep selling these cars . Basically funding the competition and the Govt is making this situation more untenable every year.
Second, stellantis is a European company, and most of those companies are drowning in the BS climate change/zero carbon kool aide so they are happy to push the V8 and dodge over a cliff in the name of Mother earth so Mopar isnt going to get any help from the Mothership. Dodge likely has near zero leverage with the mothership and is likely being told what they can and cant do.
Third, instead of looking at the new EV charger and saying its sucks compared to a Hellcat etc (It prob does) look at it and compare it to the other EVs out there. Thats the competition.THOSE will be your choices and its not Dodge's or Tim's fault, its your govt, your elected officials and the brainwashed masses that believe in this bullshit. In that respect Dodge did a damn good job of making a fucking golf cart look good and it will probably perform on the level of a Tesla Plaid. The sound is gimmicky but I get where they are coming from. Everyone is claiming dodge is going to go bankrupt because they left their customers behind etc. No, theyd go bankrupt swimming against the govt regulation and business currents as they are by NOT making EVs and continuing to do what they are doing. They are trying to give us what we want in the context of what they are allowed to do. They are painted into a corner. Some companies hopped on board early (Ford/GM) and have EVs out there big, small, and trucks to compensate for Mustangs and Corvettes but stellantis has nothing.
Fourth everyone pisses and moans about everything for the last year being a sticker package. Well WTF can dodge do? If they redesign the car, even parts of the car, it has to go back through govt certification. They arent going to spend millions of dollars to change the car or the engines for the last year of production with no future ahead of it. So yeah stickers and paint is about all they can do. Would you be happy if they didnt do anything? Just give us black, white and a few other colors and say Fk it? Having said that, I think the shakedown package was Meh, The Swinger package was a MISS, they should have just left the holy guacomole SEMA car as is, which is close but without the 70s moniker. I get they were tieing it back to "heritage" but that wasnt the right call. The Super Bee 1320 charger is interesting. IMO. While I dont like all the packages so far, I dont hate that they are doing it.
Ok Lets say Mopar tells everyone to Fk off and keeps making hellcats and keeps selling them for $80-100k. How long do you think before they run out of customers at that price in a down economy. Then big brother steps in and puts a BIGGER penaly $$$ on it because of emissions and not meeting MPG limits. Then insurance companies tripple and quadruple your rates because it isnt green and well HP is dangerous. Then the govt puts a $4/gallon tax on gas to pay for roads and building butterfly fart recapture centers. How long before No one can afford to drive car or buy one? Whats a better business plan fora company that wants to stay in business
Personally I think this whole EV thing and no gas engines by 20xx is going to implode in a few years and maybe things will go back to being sane with EVs being adopted at a normal rate while new ICE cars return to the streets. Hopefully Dodge has some plans in the works in case that happens. The grid cant handle all EVs, China is on the verge of imploding (I give em 5-6 years) Europe is about to find out how difficult winter is with no electricity and the world is going to get an education over the next year or two about how dependent we are on oil and how important it is to a modern society.
Im on board with you all about "I Hate this shit" but its not Dodge's fault. Here's hoping sanity one day prevails.
