Tesla can't be happy about this...



A Tesla competitor. A roadster in form and based on the Lotus Europa, this all-electric sports car, the Dodge EV, will accelerate to 60 mph in less than five seconds, have a 150-200 mile range on a full charge, and be driven at the rear wheels. Charging times for the Dodge EV are cited by CEO Bob Nardelli as 4 hours on a 110-volt outlet, 8 hours on a 220-volt line.


um.. that last line doesn't make sense.

other way around perhaps?

Current draw on the 220V line would be half that of the 110 so it makes sense (at least in my head) that it would take twice as long.

Does it have a Hemi?

^ Man, I was gonna say that. I can't stand the blatant rebadging though. I mean, at least call it the Lotus-Dodge EV, or something.

^Yeah, wtf. Agreed. Hopefully Dodge payed Lotus a great deal of money for that right.

Also, I agree that the last sentence doesn't make sense.

Dodge is being retarded, they should have at least come up with a name.

They probably will. Chrysler displayed three electric cars...this dodge-branded europa, the town & country, and the wrangler...and called them, respectively, the Dodge EV, the Chrysler EV, and the Jeep EV. When they go into production in a couple years they will probably have names.

And I think Tesla is in for the fight of their lives.

Worried about re-badging? Two words : Volkswagen Routan.

Autoblog is quoting opposite charging times: 8hrs @ 110V, 4hrs @ 220V.

If Chrysler is serious about entering the EV market, I wonder if von Holzhausen is second guessing going to Tesla?

It's differentiated enough from it's Chrysler counterparts for me not to care (slightly different exterior, very different interior). The Dodge EV IS a Lotus Europa with different badges.

Is the Europa available with an electric motor instead of a gas engine? I think different powertrains is a more significant difference than the revised fascia and interior of the Routan.

but but ... its european! Therefore exempt from everything.

The exterior of a car is it's most obvious feature, and lends it most of its identity. People aren't going to look under the hood of a Routan and say, "Yep, that's definitely a Caravan." They'll see it as a VW Routan, because that's what it looks like, and nothing else looks EXACTLY like it. Dodge, on the other hand, hasn't modified the appearance of the Europa one bit. I do see an advantage to that though. Anyone who actually does want a Europa in the US, can just buy a Dodge EV (provided it ever goes on sale), and slap some Lotus badges on.

If Dodge did infact change the appearance of the EV, people will still bitch at them for changing the looks of the Europa.

That doesn't make it a rebadge job, though. I mean, the classic example of lame rebadging was Chevy and Pontiac, where they'd make the exact same car with different bodywork. This carries forward to this day, where the Solstice and the Sky look very different, but under the bodywork, are the exact same stinkin' car. Same with the Cobalt and G5, the Lambda crossovers, etc.

On the other hand, if you put a Chevy small block in a Mazda RX-8 and put a Chevy badge on the hood, I certainly wouldn't call the resulting car "just a rebadged RX-8." The engine is the heart of a performance car, and if you put a completely different drivetrain in a sports car, it's not just a rebadge job.

GM and Tesla got away with it.



First paragraph: The thing with Pontiac and Chevy is that they're both owned by GM. I don't necessarily like the model overlap, but they're technically the same damn company. In any case, there is a certain amount of visual distinction. Take a look at the Cobalt and G5, same car? Yes. Same styling? Not exactly.

Second paragraph: Lets say an RX8 with a Chevy is parked in the lot next to your car, and it's got some Chevy badges on it. Without looking under the hood, or hearing the engine, what do you think is going on?

I agree completely that the engine is the heart of a car, but the styling is its visual identity. Maybe I haven't been clear about this, but it's the lack of stylistic difference that bugs me.

Tesla, and GM have both built their own versions of the Elise at some point, and managed to make them look different. Suzuki just launched the Equator, which is a Frontier with a new front-end. The Dodge EV? Surely they could've been a little less lazy with the styling.