When Dodge showed—or, rather, sounded—its Fratzonic exhaust system in the Dodge Charger EV, many on social media and in car forums scorned the very idea. Some of that was likely a knee-jerk reaction to electric cars, but some suggested that it was too artificial.
EVs do need to make some kind of sound, for safety reasons; Dodge (and others) are trying to make cool EV sounds for their performance vehicles, partly because of that. So far none have resorted to fake V8 noises, though they easily could—at least one manufacturer pipes in fake noises for its gasoline engines, after all.
Dodge touts the Banshee as being as loud as a Hellcat, but what one thing do people listen for in the Hellcat? The supercharger. Electric cars don’t need a huge belt-driven air compressor for power boosts, but they do need cooling. What if Dodge were to design a supercharger-like fan to keep their motors and batteries cool? That is, what about tuning the natural sound of a cooling fan to substitute for the supercharger whine of the most powerful mass-production car engine ever made?
In short, one could have a cooling system with front mount heat exchangers and an air pump that has the same kind of sound as a Roots-style supercharger. Seeing that battery thermal management systems are a thing, why not make it cool? I
I love the idea of the supercharger whine. I live along 15 Mile Road in Sterling Heights, MI, which for various reasons is Hellcat central — there are probably a few hundred Hellcat-powered cars parked within a 10 mile radius of here. The whine is distinctive; you won’t mistake it for any other vehicle. I hear it at least once a day.
“Sounds” good to me, VB,J. Have a great holiday season!
Thanks bud! You too!
Exactly! The supercharger whine on a hellcat is truly distinct. Seeing that the brands are trying to have their ecu systems locked, aftermarket companies need to have some way to be relevant. Companies like Whipple, Magnuson, etc could build blower style “supercoolers” instead of superchargers. There would still be intercooler and piping and that kind of stuff with a blower style whine and there would be no need for tuning. Same thing with exhaust companies like borla and magnaflow. These companies don’t just make exhausts for v8s they make them for every category. People spend serious money to amplify and tune stereo systems, this is no different. Making cars sound deeper and louder and distinct is what these companies do. EVs are the same. It wouldn’t be fake sound. It would be finding a way to take the sound the vehicle makes and tuning it to sound better than what it does from the factory. Same concepts, different platform. Time to think outside the box.
Sounds like a plan, VB,J. B.T.W: The Feds have just passed a law requiring aftermarket companies to no longer sell ANY parts or accessories such as Exhaust systems, cold air intakes, tuners, engine parts, etc. that will alter emissions, sound and a whole bunch of other stuff. Not sure when this goes into effect but there will be massive fines, penalties and possible business closures. They will be looking at Amazon, E-bay, Manufacturers (Dodge Direct Connection and Power Brokers), Independents (Hennessey, Petty’s Garage, Forza, etc.) My builder can crack Any ECU. Did a few C-8’s and GT-500’s. Have a good one, my brother!
They’ve been enforcing these types of laws more and more. It’s why fewer companies are selling high flow X-pipes or off road X-pipes, long tube headers, etc and why alot of tuning companies have cut back on aggressive tunes and several other things. It’s also why more and more cold air intakes have to be carb compliant now. It’s been going on for years. Anyone who has read any of the emissions laws will tell you it is actually illegal to remove or modify any properly functioning emissions equipment from a vehicle and it is subject to fines. It’s not a new law, its just that it’s now being enforced. Funny thing is, while that does suck for ICE vehicles, it doesn’t really make a difference for EVs because there are no emissions to begin with. I know I’m kinda starting to sound like an EV fanboy (thanks to dodge I kind of am) but lets just look at this realistically for a moment and for the moment I’m just focusing on the Charger Banshee Concept with what we know thus far. Does it sound good? Subjectively, no. However 126 Decibels isn’t quiet. Let’s just say for instance companies like AWE, Magnaflow, Borla and Corsa (yes those are in order of my favorite systems) offered aftermarket “exhaust” systems (because that’s the only thing i can think to call them) That may not exceed the 126Db level but change the sound to something more appealing. Not fake V8 sounds but tuning the sounds of the Electric motors similar to how subwoofers, equalizers and different speakers tune sound from a radio. It’s not fake sound and it’s no different than putting an axleback exhaust on a car that doesn’t do much more than change the sound because they don’t add alot of HP anyway. I already gave the example of companies like Whipple, Magnuson, Procharger, etc making “Supercooler” kits that give the same look and sound of a supercharger but would be for the thermal managment system instead of forced induction. With what is truly projected for this car, how much power do you really want to add. The cars already are projected to perform at or above hellcat level with the 400v systems, the 800v systems are going to be absolutely monstrous. It has already been said the brand is going after Tesla and for Dodge to go after Tesla, that’s not just talking EV production that’s talking EV performance! Point blank! The thing is, with Dodge, they can’t just build a telsa-like vehicle. They can’t build boring and minimalistic. That doesn’t appeal to a Dodge customer. For Dodge, The brand needs vehicles that not only have crazy HP, they need 7-speed DCTs attached to the electric motors for improved range, performance and shift feel and also to seperate themselves from the rest of the boring EV world. I have alot of reservations about EVs, especially with governmental involvement and certain other things (security issues, etc). But when T.K made the statement “this is the EV they didn’t want you to have” it said something. To me it says, okay, you’re forcing us to move to this EV thing and get away from ICE vehicles. We are still domestic but not domesticated. That’s what the brand is doing. If the FEDs are cracking down on emissions and all of that stuff, which will hurt performance, fine lets make cars that are loud brash and bold and wont “break laws” so to speak. Will they break form? Sure. They might even Dodge convention (yeah, we see what I did there. Sorry the line was so cheesy I cant help but find it amusing.) The brand is also now saying that the lineup is going to be expanding. Now granted I can’t see the future but the STLA platform is modular and we know that the platform will be the basis of the future muscle vehicles, a few SUVs and a pickup truck. Now, rumor has it that the Durango is moving on to the STLA Frame Platform to battle with the bigger SUVs. Wouldn’t have been my move if I were one of the big heads at Stellantis but whatever. There is a new category of vehicles coming out which to me are basically high riding sedans with a little bit more room. I guess it’s the new version of crossovers but IDK what to really call them. There are also some seriously fast SUVs out there now like the Lamborghini Urus and the Audi RS Q8 and of course the RAnge Rover, the Porsche Cayenne (which comes in a coupe) the X6M and so on. Not that the brand is going to tackle them all but there are a plethora of names that could be resurrected for performance vehicles in these new classes. Would a high performance high riding Dodge Coronet R/T EV fastback crossover be an ultra high performance competitive entry to vehicles like the Toyota Crown? Would a Dodge Journey Banshee be a STLA-Large platform SUV be a 800V competitor to SUVs like the Lamborghini Urus along with it’s Chrysler Airflow Graphite “Red S” 800V stablemate? Could we see a STLA-Large Dodge Dakota pickup that hearkens back to the days of the Dakota real 5.9L magnum Dakota R/T or one that could bring back the Rumble Bee, Daytona or SRT pickup trim levels but still have enough to be all that a truck of that size needs to be? Something that would have the versatility and capacity to still be a genuine truck. How about the return of the Dodge Viper? An STLA -Large platform genuine sports coupe design to take the throne from not only the Corvette but from the Tesla Roadster as well? There is nothing stopping Dodge from making any of these vehicles muscle car loud! Just like there would be nothing stopping aftermarket companies from making parts for these cars because there would be no emissions! There is nothing stopping Stellantis from bringing back a new car shaped like the Chrysler 300M and calling it the Chrysler 300E and giving it the same raw feeling that the hooligan CHrysler 300H/K had back in it’s day. Nothing would stop Chrysler from giving that car a Tesla Plaid crushing 1,320hp. Nothing would stop Chrysler from making a Chrysler New Yorker or Newport SUV that had luxury that rivaled (not imitated) a Rolls Royce Cullinan (minus the price), Nothing would stop Chrysler from bringing the Lebaron name back to a mid sized pure Chrysler luxury SUV while keeping the Pacifica as the ultimate minivan. We also wouldn’t mind Ralph Gilles making a genuine SRT Pacifica EV Banshee minivan either just because he can! (okay we want him to make an SRT Pacifica EV Banshee Minivan because we know it would be great!) The thought of someone in their Tesla Model X Plaid getting smoked by a Fratzonically loud Pacifica SRT Banshee minivan is just amazing to me. It just needs to happen. Like I said. I’m not an EV fanboy. I’m a Mopar fanboy. Even with this whole EV thing. There is still so much potential for performance and the fact that it can still look sound and drive like a dodge is something that should be able to live on forever. EV or not
Guys, have not heard raw electric motors and their attached gearboxes before? They are absolutely NOT quiet and pretty loud. The only reason why conventional EVs are mostly quiet (not silent) while running is because the motors and gear boxes can be well isolated without their sound being “exhausted” out. But if you don’t isolate the motors and gears, then what results is a LOUD supercharger-like whine.
I wish I can post links so you can hear it yourself in real cars, but just think about the small motors in RC cars, or dentist drills or electric power tools. No one would say any those are even remotely quiet.
The only issue is that during idle then they are truly silent. But at speed and accelerating, not at all.
True electric motors and their gearboxes can be loud. Its actually tuning the frequency of the sound to make it appealing. Same thing with gas powered engines. A car with an exhaust leak sounds like crap but a car with a tuned exhaust sounds great. The thing about EVs, when it comes to a car that has a following in the enthusiast market, its all about how can the owner tweak and tune the car to their own personal preference. It’s going to be interesting to see what upgrades come out for the new EV performance offerings from Dodge
Can’t and won’t comment on E.V.s, B.E.V.s, P.H.E.V.s or anything “E” except for my microwave.
Well, the Dodge Charger electric concept has some interesting styling cues. But I think they have the window line wrong.
They are definitely wrong lol! It throws the car off alot!