Dodge are set to lock out third-party tuners out of modifying the electric drivetrains in the production version of the Charger Daytona SRT Concept.
The era of the electric muscle car is coming, and coming fast. Dodge of course announced earlier in 2022 the Charger Daytona SRT Concept, the first step in electric muscle as the famous Charger will soon bow out from the Dodge lineup. At least in its current form. Of course, a big part of the muscle car world is modifying. Muscle cars are perfect for it and for the most part, manufacturers like Dodge and Ford are more than happy to see their engines modified to extract even more potential.
The advent of the production version of the Charger Daytona SRT Concept certainly got people wondering about whether the electric powertrains could indeed get modified. It would be harder but no doubt possible. However, Carccoops has got its own scoop and revealed that in actual fact, Dodge is currently working to ensure that third-party aftermarket companies will in fact not be able to modify the electric powertrains on what the form of the Daytona SRT Concept production version is. Although, there will still be a scope for aftermarket chassis and styling upgrades.
Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis spoke to Carsoops about what they are doing, and essentially it is about ensuring that customers of the electric Dodge cars will tune them in the right way. Hence the allowance of chassis and bodywork modifications, something that would be difficult to limit anyway. So we can certainly expect to see some crazy looking Daytona SRTs on the outside, and potentially within the interiors too. But performance upgrades to the electric drivetrain? No aftermarket dealer will be able to provide such upgrades.
According to Carscoops, this is because Dodge wants top ensure that customers tune their cars the right way. That might sound odd, but essentially if customers want additional power and better handling for their Daytona SRT then they will have to visit an official Dodge dealer in order to sort this out. So modifications to the drivetrain are possible for the sounds of things, but only in an official capacity. As with everything though, money comes into these decisions and factors in more than we might want. And there is a financial reason relating to the lack of maintenance for EVs that is partly driving this thought process.
According to Kuniskis, the fact that EVs will require less maintenance compared to their internal combustion engine counterparts means that they will not need as much work at the dealers themselves. This then has the knock on effect that the dealers will lose revenue during the upcoming electric era as customers will not need to send their cars to the dealers as often as they do now. Thus, there is a funding shortfall and hence Dodge deciding to lock third-parties out of modifying the new electric muscle cars.
The dealer-installed tuning packages are in effect there to replace the lost revenue that those dealers will suffer. Servicing charges will certainly drop now the muscle cars are going electric, and Dodge clearly recognize that they need to find that funding from somewhere else. These upgrades will be all offered through the Direct Connection Program which could see the hottest version of the Charger Daytona SRT make more than 1,000 hp. Regarding the mods, Kuniskis said to Carscoops “We just want to lock them and say modify them through us so that we know it’s done right.”
Of course, Dodge are not blind to the fact that third-party tuners will probably try to hack into the electric system to perform their own upgrades. But Kuniskis also said that the crystals are in fact tied to a car's VIN, and those crystals will ensure that their own dealers become the go-to destination for these power upgrades. Kuniskis also believes the upgrades will add value to a car, should the owner wish to sell the car on in the future as those upgrades will follow the car to whoever its new owner is.
It probably sounds a bit mad that this is how Dodge are going about this. There are plenty of third-party tuners out there who provide a good service, and know exactly what they are doing. However, having that safety net of knowing a modification was of course performed by someone who knows the car inside and out is no bad thing. And it makes sense for Dodge to want people to return to them for modifications. Of course, the financial side of things is perhaps what makes more sense to many people. When the Charger Daytona SRT is available to the public, it will be interesting to see who goes back to Dodge for mods, and who resorts to hacking.
Source: Carscoops
Covering anything from JDM cars to classic jets. Contributed to HotCars since the Autumn of 2018. Writes features, news and list articles.
