Dodge's Electric Car: A Game-Changer for the Brand?

One of my favorite car companies, Dodge, has just announced an electric car, and it's a big deal. The entire brand is based around screaming V8s, tire smoke, and not giving a heck what people think. But ironically, what people think about this Dodge EV will make or break the company's future.

Will people take Dodge seriously? Will they be able to compete with EV big dogs like Tesla, Ford, and General Motors? You can call it a comeback, but don't call it an electric car. The brand is known for its powerful engines, and this new EV is no exception.

A Big Thanks to Our Sponsor

We want to extend our gratitude to Omaze for sponsoring today's video. One of you will be thanking them next time because Omaze is giving you the chance to win this custom 1970 Chevrolet K5 Blazer restored by the Ring Brothers. The car comes with a range of exciting features, including an LS3 6.2 liter V8 engine that produces 430 horsepower.

The Interior: A True Showstopper

But it's not just the exterior of the car that's beautiful – the interior is also a masterpiece. Inside you'll find a complete custom leather interior, including seats, dash, door cards, and console. That's approximately two and a half cow's worth of leather in here. This level of craftsmanship is truly impressive.

A Chance to Win

For your chance to win this incredible car, head over to omaze.com/donut and enter. Best of all, every donation supports Team Rubicon and The Veterans Coalition for vaccination. They work tirelessly to aid local and state officials and other partner organizations in distributing the COVID-19 vaccine nationwide.

Dodge's Electric Future

On July 8th, Stellantis, parent company of Dodge and 13 other automotive brands, gave us the bare minimum information needed to string together some thought on a potential Dodge EV. The event was filled with production, interesting promises, and very little of the actual car shown. However, that's not stopping Dodge from moving forward with its electrification strategy.

A Message from Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis

Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis stood in front of the historic Dodge family home to present his brand's electrification strategy. The quote said it all: "We're going to make electric cars cool again." It's clear that Dodge is committed to its new direction and is eager to take on the competition.

The Future of EVs

As we look ahead to the future of electric vehicles, one thing is certain – Dodge is ready to join the fray. With its rich history and iconic brand image, there's no doubt that the company will be able to compete with the likes of Tesla, Ford, and General Motors. It's time to see if people will take Dodge seriously and take notice of this exciting new EV.

Custom 1970 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Restoration

But before we look at the future, let's take a closer look at the custom 1970 Chevrolet K5 Blazer that you could win. The car features a range of high-performance components, including QA1 Shocks and swaybars, a custom Flowmaster exhaust system, and one-off HRE 18-inch wheels.

A Big Thank You to Our Sponsors

Finally, we want to extend our gratitude to Omaze for sponsoring this video. We hope you enjoy the content, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for Dodge's electric car initiative.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- One of my favorite car companies, Dodge,just announced an electric car.(upbeat rock music)This is a big deal.Dodge's entire brand isbased around screaming V8s,tire smoke and not givinga heck what people think.But ironically, what peoplethink about this Dodge EVwill make or break the company's future.Will people take Dodge seriously?Will they be able to competewith EV big dogs like Tesla,Ford and General Motors?You can call it a comeback.Just don't call it an electric car.(upbeat rock music)- A big thanks to Omaze forsponsoring today's video.And one of you will be thankingthem next time because Omazeis giving you the chance to winthis custom 1970 ChevroletK5 Blazer restoredby the Ring Brothers.And you got taxes and shipping included.That's a nice little bonus.Now beneath the carbon fiber hoodsits an LS3 6.2 liter V8making 430 horsepower.It's got QA1 Shocks and swaybars.A custom Flowmaster exhaust system,and one-off HRE 18 inch wheels.But it's not justthis growler greenexterior that's beautiful.Oh no.Inside you'll find a completecustom leather interior,including seats, dash,door cards and console.There's approximately twoand a half cow's worthof leather in here.So for your chance to win thiscustom 1970 Chevrolet K5 Blazer,go to omaze.com/donut and enter.And best of all,every donation supports Team Rubiconand The VeteransCoalition for vaccination.They work in aidinglocal and state officialsand other partner organizationsin distributing theCOVID-19 vaccine nationwide.So hurry on up,donate for your chance towin at omaze.com/donut.Baby.Oh, he's going crazy.Oh.(bright music)- On July 8th, Stellantis, parent companyof Dodge and 13 otherautomotive brands gave usthe bare minimum information needed for usto string together some thoughtson a potential Dodge EV.As is the case for mostrelease or reveal videos,there was a lot of production,some interesting promises and very littleof the actual car shown.Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskisstood in front of the lineupof the historic Dodgefamily home to presenthis brand's electrification strategy.Quote "Dodge-- "Will not sell electric cars.Dodge will sell American muscle."- Which we could tell is Americanfrom the bold type and color choices.(eagle screeches)(patriotic music)In 2024 Dodge willrelease the world's firstfully electric muscle car,which if being what wassaid in the release is true,we should start seeing landing at dealerswithin the next three years.The CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavaressaid the automaker plans for fivegigafactories to supportEuropean and North Americanproduction of those future EVswith a $35 billion investmentover the next five years,Tavares confidentlyprojected that by 2025,98% of the vehicles sold in North Americawill feature some sort of electrification.And crucially the companythinks EVs will reach a costparody with the internalcombustion engine in 2026,meaning they'll cost the sameto build, that's important.But before we think toofar ahead into whatevera gigafactory is and what thefuture holds for the company,let's take a look back and see how it gotto where it is under Stellantis,because there's a good chanceyou're sitting there thinking"I know what Dodge is, whatthe hell is Stellantis?"Stellantis might sound likea direct-to-video crossover sequelbetween "Treasure Planet" and "Atlantis",but it's Dodge's latest parent company.The Dodge brand withstoodmultiple ownershipchanges at Chrysler.There was the 2009 bailout bythe United States government,and filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy,which led to acquisition by Fiat.When the Fiat and Chryslergroups aligned to becomeFiat Chrysler Automobiles,not only did the now share a company name,they also shared over a hundredmanufacturing facilities,extensive global supplier bases,and more than 40 technologyresearch and development centersfor their long list of vehicle brands.After a failed attemptto merge with Renaulta few years later in 2009,a new agreement was struckbetween FCA and the PSA Groupe,that's the French collectiveconsisting of Peugeot, Citroen,Opel, Vauxhall, and many others.The resulting corporation,Stellantis was establishedon January 16th of this year witha binding $50 billion merger,making the Dutch domicile automakerthe second biggest in Europe,right after Volkswagen.So what was in it for the PSA Groupe?Well, it was a movetowards sustainability.While Tim Kuniskiscontinues to say that quote"Performance made Dodge do it",those big merger dollars weren't comingwithout some sort of cash.Groupe PSA has madesustainability in the formof ride sharing, rental programsand electrification programsalready developing in the UKa key pillar of its corporate structure,meaning every brand under thebroadened Stellantis umbrellawill be going in that direction as well.Earlier this year StellantisCEO Carlos Tavares issueda challenge for the group's brands,including Dodge to provethemselves within a 10 year windowin exchange from much needed investmentin new models and technology.So think about this.Imagine your boss gives you 10 yearsto turn your (bleep) around,otherwise you're done.Those are the stakes for Dodge right now.There are four EV platformsplanned to be developedby the end of the 2020's,and overall the company announcedmore than 35 billion willbe invested by the end of this year.35 billion.People, myself included willcertainly be questioningStellantis how they plan to turn Dodge,a company known forfire-breathing, tire belching,muscle cars green.(car engine revs)Over half a century ago when the Chargerand Challenger were introduced,they made an impact on Americanmuscle and bulked up demandfor horsepower on domestic roads.And today the DodgeChallenger easily outsoldboth the Camaro and thereigning Detroit champion,the Mustang in the third quarter of 2019.The latest generationof Challenger includedthe 807 horsepower Demon, theworld's fastest muscle car.(car engine revs)With that kind ofreputation to live up to,it's doubtful that the marketing alonewill do the trick to make EVs, sorry.Emuscle desirable.According to Stellantis,Dodge is one of the youngestand most diverse customer baseswith the highestconcentration of millennials,who now account for quarterof the US populationwith the highest spending power.They also report that the demographichas the highest EV acceptance.In the past, Dodge'smarketing has targeteda pretty different crowdwith their ad campaigns,but some of those messagesjust aren't gonna workin today's world.(rock music)So the 2021 Dodge marketing team came upwith their new tagline.- Tear up the streets, not the planet.- Freaking sick dude.And that's not even the best linethe marketing group came up with.Clearly Dodge isn'tcounting on the marketingto do all the selling.At least we hope not.The Dodge brand has tocount for something.So the equation Dodge willlean on for EVs comes down tospending power plus electricpower plus horsepower equalsDodge EV success.Ultimately though, ifnone of those taglineshave sold you as Kuniskis says-- Our customers purchase anexperience, not a technology.- So the automaker willneed to find a solutionthat protects the acceleration,torque and dynamics,that makes Dodge customersbuy Chargers, Challengers,and even Durangos.How do you preserve thatfire-breathing, tire spinningflavor with an EV?(engine revs)Since the Hellcat's super-charged V8and it's 707 horsepower won't meetemission standards forever,And every one of the 14Stellantis brands are expectedto have electrified offerings,the Dodge brand is lookingfor power from another source.While they waited it outas long as they could,finding a way into the EVmarket was an inevitability,even for Dodge,if they want to stay competitivein a future that's lessfossil fuel reliant.But Dodge being Dodge and goingto the limit with everythingthey do as proudly statedin their "Excess drives success" motto,the automaker isn't justgonna give customersan electric option like the rest.They're touting state-of-the-artbattery tech likesolid state batteriesconsidered by many to bethe Holy Grail of EVbatteries to power their cars.Stellantis said to expect rangesup to 500 miles of charge,depending on vehicle size, that's insane.There's four different electricvehicle platforms that arecollectively named Stella or STLA.The Stella Small will handleefficient city mobility,Stella Medium for premiumvehicles and Stella Large,which is where Dodge will mostlikely sit with its all wheeldrive performance andAmerican muscle division.And finally, the Stella Framewill underpin future bodyon frame vehicles, suchas the Ram pickup truckscoming in 2024.The Stella Large and Frameplatforms will get rangesup to 500 miles per charge, supposedly.The longest projectedrange of any of their EVsand admittedly muchfurther than you can geton a tank of gas.The batteries that Dodge putsinto these new muscle EVs willbe hugely important.Seeing as they determinethe amount of power,the car can draw, howfast and for how far.Stellantis is planning ondeveloping and manufacturingauto batteries in gigafactories,which is a term we firstheard from our boy Elon Muskalmost a decade ago.Again, Dodge is running a little behind.So while this made up word usedto be a fun techie soundingflashy marketing hook,it's played into the lexiconas an accepted word to use inreference to gigantic battery factories.According to Kuniskis, auto engineers-- Are reaching a practicallimit of what we can squeezefrom internal combustion innovation.- For that reason, Dodge is quote,"Turning to EV technologyas a natural evolutionof the modern muscle car."- Dodge has made it thisfar by embracing evolution.And it's the same way thehammerhead shark has thrivedat the top of the food chain.- And you know what, Idon't think that's like,I don't think he's justbeing forced to do this.Historically, with each increaseof the heavy power plantand horsepower numbers,Dodge has also seen asignificant rise in market share.Whether the brand isembracing the EV conceptfor the possibility ofincreasing horsepowerso customers can remain apex predators,which I think is the goal ofanyone who buys a Dodge or fortheir increase in the market share,Dodge is gonna have to boostthe power with these Emuscles.As Stellantis CEO Tavares noted quote,"We have the technology todeliver the torque, dynamicsand acceleration feelingwhile also dramaticallyreducing the emissions."It sounds good to me, man.Talk of a likely all wheeldrive layout mixed with sweetnothings about close to 900horsepower and zero to 60in two seconds beingpossibilities, it's awesome.But what if it doesn't look cool?What's not yet clear is if this Dodge EVwill be an electric versionof the two door Challengeror the four door Charge.In the teaser video, thedesigners did includethe Fratzog logo,which we saw illuminated inred against an otherwise blackand smoky obscured body of the new EV.This logo was very intentional.It was used in the '60'sand '70's on Dodges grills,which dodged says as aquote "Nod to the future,which will bring aboutanother great automotive era,the era of the electrified muscle car."I actually really dig this logo,being a Mopar guy and owning acar with it on there makes mefeel nostalgic for a timethat I didn't really get to experience.But now if this performancematches and far exceedsthe muscle cars of old, like I'd love it.It's bad-ass.Tavares is pledging to bringDodge into the next centurywhile keeping its current attributes,protecting the brand with new technology.Dodge has always positioned their brandas a sort of rebelliouschoice that stands outwith the in-crowd.Their electrification strategycould have been held out for this longfor any number of reasons,whether it was waitingto see how the technologyand infrastructure developed,or as a slow burn as to not alienatetheir established customer base.I kind of get why they waited.Dodge waiting this long to hopinto the EV game meansthere's been plenty of timefor the competition to get a jump,ranging from the Ford Mustang Mach-E,to upcoming Tesla Roadsterto the Porsche Taycan.So this Dodge offering is really gonnahave to be impressive.This move into alreadycrowded EV territory could bea gamble for Dodge as they strayaway from their solidified,traditional consumer baseinto greener pastures.But they're also the brandthat continues to bounce back.Thank you very much forwatching "Wheelhouse" this week.Yes, it's a gamble forDodge, but it's inevitable.I think they're gonna pull it off.For more info on EVs,check out this video righthere on whether or not electriccars are better for the environment.The answer might surprise you.Hey, if you're a Donut superfreak and you want even moreDonut content hit thejoin button down below,join the donut underground.Definitely check that out.Follow Donut on all socialmedia at Donut Media.Follow me at Nolanjsykes if you'd like.Be kind, I'll see you next time.