American carmakers will lean on technology to keep the horsepower wars going among their electric muscle cars, a tectonic shift from the big, rumbling motors of the past.
Muscle cars refer to American two-door performance-oriented vehicles, powered by near-400 horsepower V8 motors sending power to their rear wheels, helping them dish out sub-5 second zero-to-60 miles-per-hour acceleration times. “Nearly all the EVs do handle the same, they’re very rigid, and they’re heavy because you can’t escape the fact that the batteries are very heavy weights,” said racing driver Ben Collins, formerly the Stig from British motoring TV showWith most car companies phasing out their gas-powered cars in favor of electric variants, automakers that had earlier differentiated their muscle cars with large engines will now rely on software updates and quirks to define their muscle cars.
Brands such as Polestar and Mercedes-Benz have announced optional power upgrades to their sedans that improve acceleration and total horsepower via paid OTA software updates. “We’re not going to sell you over the air update for you know, heated seats. We’re going to sell you direct connection upgrades for performance and suspension and things like that, where you actually physically have to change the car,” Kuniskis added.