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30 Reasons Car Companies Shouldn’t Kill Classics To Go Electric

Cameron Eittreim August 3, 2021

There’s word on the streets that GM might be replacing the Chevrolet Camaro with an electric sedan, and as car fans, we just have to wonder why. Are automakers trying to make such a swift move to electric cars that they’re willing to kill off their time-honored classics?

The Camaro is one of the longest-running and most-liked nameplates in GM’s storied lineage. Likewise, Ford has done something similar with the Mustang Mach-E, which is an electric SUV instead of a muscle car coupe. The car world has yet to see if these bold moves will pay off or not. But for today, we examined the reasons why automakers shouldn’t dump their classics just yet.

30: Lineage Of The Classics

Killing off the classic nameplates that made a brand famous throughout history can understandably be dangerous for a car company. The Camaro for instance has always been equated with the performance world. To turn it into an electric sedan is going to alienate an entire customer base. Like it or not, the Camaro is still a popular nameplate that manages to sell well even in today’s challenging market.

For the time being, there is still room in the market for gasoline-powered engines. Automakers would be foolish to move on from gas engines this early in the electric car revolution. There’s still plenty of life in the Camaro line and the brand still evokes emotion with buyers.

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29: A Market For Stick Shifts

Although it’s not the norm anymore, the manual transmission still has a solid fan base. The stick shift is the original type of transmission for performance vehicles. It gives the driver a feeling of feedback that just isn’t there with an automatic transmission.

Automakers have been quick to erase the manual transmission from history books. But automotive enthusiasts are still yearning for new manual transmission performance cars. Sure, sales numbers aren’t going to be astronomical, but there is still a dedicated consumer base looking for these cars.

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28: Price Point

It’s not a mystery that electric cars cost a lot more than your average gasoline-powered vehicle. So if a muscle car is sold at a premium, an electric-powered muscle car will be even more. Paying a premium for an electric vehicle is something that you shouldn’t have to be forced into doing.

This is why the automakers shouldn’t just focus on electric-powered vehicles because consumers want options. A vast majority of the consumers in the automotive marketplace are not ready to switch to electric-powered vehicles. The high price points are only going to drive a wedge in between consumers in the purchase of a new vehicle.

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27: V8s Aren’t Dead

The V8 engine is still one of the most popular powerplants in the world. The steadfast design of the engine and reliability makes it an industry standard to this day. Even with the rising cost of fuel, the V8 engine is still a great performer that has longevity in the automotive world. There have been many advances in the technology of V8 engines in the last couple of years.

It will be interesting to see how the automotive industry progresses with its attempts to abolish the V8 engine. The general consensus is that V8 engines are still a popular option with consumers and most aren’t willing to give them up yet. Even as electric cars continue to take over, the V8 engine is here to stay.

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26: Battery Cost

One of the most costly elements of owning an electric car is the eventual cost of replacing the battery. According to Greencars.com, the average cost of replacing an electric car battery is between $5,000-$15,000. That’s more than most consumers even have in their savings accounts, much less the ability to put it down on a replacement battery.

And the batteries that we are seeing go inside of vehicles are only getting much larger and more costly. The replacement batteries in an electric vehicle are something that most potential electric car buyers aren’t considering. What happens when the batteries go out a few years down the road? The cost is definitely more than most are going to anticipate.

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25: Styling

Whether you believe it or not, the styling of electric cars is still a major turnoff for a lot of consumers. The automotive industry went from normal to futuristic in a few short years and not everyone likes that. Take the abrupt styling of the Tesla Cybertruck, for example.

The classics have a distinct look to them that people still resonate with, whether you’re a Chevy, Ford, or Dodge driver. Obviously, the automotive design will continue to change with the times but the quantum jump to futuristic is just a tad bit extreme. Designers are going over the edge to have the next big thing and consumers may not be ready.

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24: A Lack Of Real Performance

When we bring up a lack of real performance we aren’t talking about just speed. Most are well aware that electric cars can be blisteringly fast, but is it a satisfying experience? When you take off in a V8-powered muscle car, you feel it. With an electric car, it’s almost like you are taking off in an airplane. It’s a quiet and fast experience.

When you sit inside a muscle car you have an expectation of what’s under the hood. Driving an electric car just doesn’t evoke that same feeling that a muscle car does. Until automakers realize this, we will continue to see questionable electric cars being produced to replace the cars we all love and enjoy.

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23: A More Expensive Tire

On top of the fact that the maintenance for an electric car is more expensive, the tires also cost more. Electric cars are fast, sometimes scary fast, and this requires a special type of rubber on your wheels. The average tire for a Tesla model runs between $140 and $350 per tire, and that’s if you don’t opt for a higher-end tire.

You don’t want to skimp on quality because Tesla uses self-driving technology as well. If a tire were to burst, the results could be catastrophic. Whereas your run-of-the-mill muscle car can operate with just about any tire brand, although many enthusiasts are going to go for the better options as well.

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22: Fire Risk

It was not too long ago that Tesla fires were all over the news, and this is a problem with electric cars. With all of the new advances in electric technology, car companies are rushing to get these new batteries into cars. The technology hasn’t gone through years of testing yet and the risk of malfunctions or fires is quite high.

With a traditional V8 engine there is also a risk of fire, but not so much the case when you get a brand-new car off of the lot. The classic V8 engine has been tried and true for decades and this helps to lend some credence to the reliability. An electric Camaro or Mustang is a scary thought when you think about how new the technology is.

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21: Electric Cars Depreciate Faster

The main thing that electric cars are suffering from right now is a faster depreciation than their gasoline-powered counterparts. One of the reasons for this is the fact that the battery is so expensive to replace. Consumers are aware of this going in and a used electric car is going to need a battery sooner than a brand-new model.

Reliability also hasn’t been tested on electric cars yet because they’ve only been on the road for about a decade. What happens to that expensive Tesla 20 years from now? That’s what consumers are nervous about and it’s something that is going to negatively affect the resale value for some time into the future.

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20: Charging Can Be A Challenge

Electric cars are still a new form of transportation and charging stations are now a hot commodity. For the consumers who live in middle America, finding a charging station can be a pain and installing a charging station in your home can be costly. The main thing with driving an electric car is that the range is limited, and you’ll need to find an electric charging station.

On top of the fact that finding a charging station is difficult, it also puts a strain on the power grid. Right now everyone is pushing for electric vehicles as states like California are experiencing rolling blackouts. It might be a bad move to switch entirely to electric cars at this point in time.

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19: NASCAR?

What is the biggest and most popular motorsport in the world? NASCAR. This means that there are millions of fans who enjoy the roar of gasoline-powered stock cars going around the track. Likewise, it also makes us wonder what NASCAR would be like if it was all-electric? The sport just wouldn’t be the same without gas-powered engines.

Automakers who are involved in the sport would make a potential mistake by deciding to leave the gas-powered car business. Consumers aren’t ready for 100% electric vehicles, especially not when it comes to NASCAR racing.

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18: Charging Times

Once you have found an electric car that you like and a suitable charging station, the next problem is the charging times. There will be a period of time when your car needs to be charged and you won’t be able to drive it. Car companies are looking at ways to decrease charging times on electric cars, but it isn’t going to happen overnight.

The elongated charging times that it can take for an electric car are another annoyance to owning one. With a gasoline-powered car as long as you have the fuel you can fire it up and hit the road anytime that you want to. Charging an electric car is still a new concept to a lot of drivers, and the long charging times are one of the biggest annoyances.

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17: Few Model Options

Another thing to point out about electric cars is the lack of options drivers get to choose from. Electric vehicles are often sold packed to the gills with just about everything that you could want. But what if you don’t want leather seating or all of the extras? This is a problem with how the current market for electric cars is structured.

There used to be an ability to choose between a base model vehicle and a more expensive car. Nowadays the automotive market has changed so much that the old days of choosing options are a thing of the past. The Camaro and the Mustang were at one point vehicles that offered a lot of different options.

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16: Convertibles Are An Endangered Species

Another problem with getting rid of classics is the fact that the convertible is an endangered species. The Camaro is available in a convertible model as is the Mustang, yet what will happen when these two models are phased out? Consumers are already moving away from convertible models as we speak but there is still a devoted following for these vehicles.

Nothing beats flying down the highway in a convertible Camaro SS, hearing the rumblings of that V8 engine under the hood. Likewise, a lot of rare convertible models have come out over the years and the fact that these might be gone is sad for many drivers.

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15: NHRA Drag Racing

Drag racing is another section of the automotive world that’s going to be negatively affected by the rise of electric cars. The NHRA drag racers are generally powered by fossil fuels and thus removing this could kill the sport altogether. Could you imagine electric drag racing? It would feel like watching lifesized R/C cars taking to the streets.

Motorsports are no doubt going to be negatively affected by the rise of electric cars. Fans aren’t going to get behind something that has little personality or feeling. If the automakers switch from classics right now there will be an onslaught of motorsports that are negatively affected by the move toward electric cars.

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14: The Sound

No matter what you drive, there is no doubt that the thing that catches your attention the most is the sound. This is why the market for custom exhaust is so vast because consumers love to make their rides sound great. Could you imagine a Camaro that didn’t have that special set of Borla exhaust pipes? It wouldn’t be the same.

Sadly, with the rise of electric cars, this could be in the not-so-distant future. There have been rumblings that GM is going to cancel the Camaro by the 2023 model year. With Ford already moving the Mustang toward an electric SUV platform, the difference in the muscle car market is going to be very noticeable.

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13: No More Specialty Models

The Camaro and the Mustang have both always had special-edition models. From the COPO to the Cobra, there are always going to be special-edition muscle cars. With the rise in electric vehicles, there is going to be a reduction or even a downright dismissal of special editions.

We might not see a COPO or a Cobra in the future due to the fact that the gasoline engines will be gone. Most electric cars don’t have special editions, and in fact, only offer a few trim packages altogether.

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12: The End of SVT?

If Ford is going to kill off gas-powered cars, the end could be near for the SVT brand. One of the things that the SVT brand has always done right is to cram obscenely fast performance engines into ordinary vehicles. Without the SVT brand, we might never see another Mustang Cobra or a hyped-up F-150 pickup truck.

With the release of the Ford Lightning electric truck, the end is already spelled out for the return of the Lightning brand. The days at the SVT division could be numbered due to the rise of electric vehicles and the move toward all-electric powertrains.

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11: Less Variety

Right now, with gasoline-powered engines, there are a huge variety of different car models to choose from. But as manufacturers limit their product lines to electric vehicles you will see an eventual decline in the variety of models. Cars like the Challenger and the Camaro will go to the chopping block in favor of a more universal model.

Crossover sales are hotter than ever, making muscle cars more of a specialty product. Would you want an automotive market where there is far less variety to choose from? With the rise in electric cars, this could be the case because of the limited range of electric vehicles.

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10: Expensive Computer Systems

Perhaps one of the lesser-known drawbacks to electric cars is the fact that their computer systems are expensive to replace. You’re going to spend not only a lot of time by having to do this but also thousands of dollars. A V8 engine is going to be cheaper in the long run to repair and the parts are readily available.

The Camaro and the Mustang are two cars that have a large following and an even larger aftermarket community. Being able to work on a vehicle by yourself might be a thing of the past in the future, but we’d still like the option to do so for the time being.

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9: Self-Driving Danger

Electric cars like Teslas are pioneering the self-driving revolution, but that technology is still new. There have been plenty of instances that have made the news where self-driving is potentially a dangerous thing. By cutting off classic-style cars right now, the self-driving revolution could be a problem.

Another problem with self-driving cars right now is the fact that teenagers might feel like it’s OK to text and drive, or worse. Automakers need to slow down and take the time to think about what they are doing before it becomes a bigger problem.

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8: The Problem With Crossovers

The entire automotive market is going toward the crossover segment and there are a few problems with this. Not everyone wants a crossover vehicle but consumers are increasingly being forced to choose this type of vehicle. The ability to choose a performance car like a Camaro or a Mustang is a nice choice to have instead of being forced into a decision.

Crossovers are fairly limited in their design and with the move toward electric vehicles, they will become even more limited. Sure, you have the performance aspects of electric vehicles, but what about the potential for tipping over at high speeds and worse.

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7: Storied Nameplates At GM

When you think about GM canceling the Camaro, there are also a number of other well-known nameplates that come to mind. What happens to the future of the Impala, Caprice, and Chevelle? Without these vehicles, the future of the automotive business will be quite dull and lacking personality.

With the move toward electric cars, GM will be less able to revive certain nameplates because it just won’t make sense. You might not think very much about this now but there are points in history where a brand revival is extremely profitable. Take the retro-inspired Mustang in 2005 for instance or even the VW New Beetle in 1998.

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6: The Auto Parts Business

Electric cars clearly don’t require the same type of maintenance that gasoline-powered cars do. Teslas don’t need the internal engine parts lubricated until around 100,000 miles. This would mean that the need for replacement parts or even oil changes will be greatly reduced. What happens when an entire segment of the automotive business is put aside?

Routine maintenance on a vehicle is a very profitable business and one that continues to be an important part of the business. Electric cars are not only going to change the way that we drive but also the way that we perform routine maintenance and do-it-yourself car care.

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5: The SS and Z28 Are Still Strong Brands

Although GM is contemplating the removal of the Camaro brand in favor of a sedan, the SS and Z28 are still strong brand names. When you think of performance cars, two of the first badges that come to mind are the SS and Z28. The Camaro is still one of the most iconic brands in the automotive business today.

With the SS and the Z28 brands, muscle cars have never been the same. Both of these brands were responsible for defining the Camaro brand name and iconic design. If GM goes electric, it will be very hard to badge an electric car as a Z28 or an SS.

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4: The Volt Was A Failure

It’s no secret that GM has had a tough time selling electric cars. The Volt was a failure and the model that the company is pushing now is the Bolt. Time will tell how the new Hummer will do, but when you think about completely changing the Camaro, it isn’t a smart move. The Ford Mustang Mach-E is a prime example of tarnishing a well-known nameplate.

Enthusiasts were extremely disappointed with the Mustang Mach-E and the thought that the original design of the car could potentially be removed. Muscle cars are an integral part of the automotive business and just tarnishing a brand altogether could end up bad for the company.

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3: Alienating A Generation

There are still multiple generations of people who have a love for the muscle car era. Likewise, there is a new generation of car buyers who love the performance of modern pony cars. By removing the segment altogether there are multiple generations of people who will be alienated in the long run.

The unique and iconic designs of the muscle car era are pieces of the automotive industry that will stick with us for generations. By trying to remove these unique memories from the automotive industry, GM and other car companies simply alienate an entire generation of enthusiasts who grew up with these vehicles.

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2: What Will Happen To Chrysler?

Perhaps one of the companies that could be hurt the most by the electric car revolution is Chrysler. The Dodge Challenger and Charger are both hot products for the company and the Jeep brand is even more popular. If Dodge were to get rid of the Challenger or the Charger the brand would lose its unique identity.

The Challenger is a bit long in the tooth as the current platform has been around since 2010, and the brand still resonates with consumers. If Chrysler were to remove the brand altogether in favor of an electric sports car there is no doubt that the original enthusiast base for Mopar products would feel alienated.

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1: The Original Camaro Cancellation

2002 was a bad year for the muscle car market when GM canceled the Camaro and Firebird models. Fast-forward to the current model year and the execs over at GM are considering canceling the Camaro program once again. Why does the company move so fast when it comes to phasing out such an iconic nameplate?

Ford hasn’t been near as reckless with the Mustang brand, other than the Mach-E that everyone hates. Yet, GM continues to dangle a carrot on a stick in front of enthusiasts who have grown up loving the Camaro and everything that it entails. Canceling the Camaro brand would be a mistake for GM as there is still a lot of passion for this line of vehicles.

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30 Reasons Car Companies Shouldn’t Kill Classics To Go Electric

30: Lineage Of The Classics

29: A Market For Stick Shifts

28: Price Point

27: V8s Aren’t Dead

26: Battery Cost

25: Styling

24: A Lack Of Real Performance

23: A More Expensive Tire

22: Fire Risk

21: Electric Cars Depreciate Faster

20: Charging Can Be A Challenge

19: NASCAR?

18: Charging Times

17: Few Model Options

16: Convertibles Are An Endangered Species

15: NHRA Drag Racing

14: The Sound

13: No More Specialty Models

12: The End of SVT?

11: Less Variety

10: Expensive Computer Systems

9: Self-Driving Danger

8: The Problem With Crossovers

7: Storied Nameplates At GM

6: The Auto Parts Business

5: The SS and Z28 Are Still Strong Brands

4: The Volt Was A Failure

3: Alienating A Generation

2: What Will Happen To Chrysler?

1: The Original Camaro Cancellation

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