Dodge wants to keep the aural spectacle even as it moves to electric propulsion.
Electric motors have many advantages over internal combustion engines, including the fact that they don’t waste a lot of their power as sound energy. So quiet are electric vehicles, in fact, that federal vehicle safety regulations require EVs (and hybrids) to make a certain amount of noise at lower speeds to warn vulnerable road users like blind or visually impaired pedestrians of their presence.
Almost all of those cars end up sounding like a choir of depressed angels, a phrase memorably coined by either Richard Porter or Jonny Smith on the Smith and Sniff podcast. That’s not the case with the forthcoming electric Dodge Charger, however. When it first broke cover in March, we learned that the electric Charger would feature something called a “Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust” to give it some aural character. Now, thanks to the video from Dodge embedded here, we can all hear what that sounds like in practice:
Dodge knows that emotion is a big part of muscle car sales, so it’s made the electric Charger sound very emotional.
The Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust—the name refers to a Dodge logo—combines various chambers underneath the Charger’s body with some woofers and mid-range speakers, all driven by a dedicated 600 W amplifier. The system is also designed to transmit vibrations into the chassis through elastomeric bushings, mimicking an internal combustion engine and its motor mounts.
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“We know our Dodge enthusiasts want that visceral feel you get when you drive a Dodge muscle car, and the Charger’s new Fratzonic system delivers the adrenaline-pumping spirit that they expect. It reacts to specific inputs and driving events, giving the driver a direct connection to their new Charger. Simply put, when you hear it and feel it, you will know it’s a Dodge Charger Daytona,” said Matt McAlear, Dodge brand CEO at Stellantis.
As you can hear in the video, the Fratzonic system makes more than one sound. Dodge says it “intensifies a suite of dynamic vehicle events, including power up/power down, idle/rev, acceleration/throttle, powershot [like a boost function], and deceleration/regenerative braking.”
Dodge is not the first automaker to apply a degree of automotive skeuomorphism in an effort to appeal to the more traditionally minded car enthusiast. Last year, we tested a Toyota fitted with a fake manual transmission, and later this month, we’ll be conducting a more extensive test of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, which sonically replicates gearshifts, winning over just about every skeptic who has driven it.
The two-door electric Charger Daytona goes on sale later this year and will cost $59,595 for the Charger Daytona R/T and $73,190 for the Charger Daytona Scat Pack.
