Dodge's new all-electric Charger is shrouded in controversy. Not only is the Hemi V-8 gone, but it's been replaced with a fake "Fratzonic" exhaust sound that doesn't have the internet convinced. The latest version of the sound, revealed this week, should convince at least a few people, though.
The company published a video to Instagram on Monday showing off the latest iteration of the Fratzonic exhaust. We watch and listen as a Charger Daytona EV blasts through a tunnel, outputting what sounds like a good old-fashioned V-8 sound.
The sound is a far cry from the original noise out of the debut in 2022, which was met with a ton of hate. In 2023, Dodge went as far as to change the sound with something resembling an engine, which sounded better but seemingly failed to convince the buying public. And while this latest noise sounds almost exactly like a real V-8, the internet isn't buying it.
"Lol we want real V-8 noises ... not a speaker," one comment reads. "We still want HEMIs," says another. "I’d rather have no car than one of these," one commenter says.
Dodge has voiced its struggles with the Fratzonic exhaust since its original reveal. "We've changed it 100 times," CEO Tim Kuniskis confessed to reporters back in March. The system uses a speaker (or speakers) mounted inside an exhaust-like chamber to mimic the sound of a real exhaust.
Judging by the public's reaction to this whole fake exhaust speaker thing, it's clear that people don't actually care whether an electric car sounds like an ICE-powered car or not. Even if the Charger Daytona EV sounds exactly like a Hellcat, people won't be convinced, because they'll know it's not the real thing.
It's like slapping an M badge on a non-M BMW. The only people that care about the badge will also know it's a fake. Likewise, anyone that cares about the exhaust sound coming from a Charger EV will know it's not the real thing.
