Tesla is secretly helping Dodge to build more Hellcats!

Let's say you just ran a marathon of 10 kilometers, and you decide to reward yourself with a huge burger, a can of pop, and some fries to go along with. That makes sense, right? Okay, now let's say you have a lot of money and pay somebody else who needs money to run that 10 kilometers so you can reward yourself with the same meal. That's completely ridiculous, and we can ask ourselves why anybody would do that. Ironically, the same idea can be applied to the car industry if you replace the runner with Tesla and the rich guy by Dodge (Stellantis). Well, as crazy it might sound, that's precisely what is going on between those two. 

 

You see, Tesla recently started to do great financially, but the American manufacturer has a long way to go before getting close to all the money that has been invested into the company so far. That's why Tesla found a creative way to make a little money here and there by selling branded goods or allowing customers to pay for their cars with cryptocurrencies. However, since the manufacturer is only making 100% electric vehicles, Tesla is benefiting from something that is called a regulatory credit or what is better known as a green credit. Some states and even some countries grant this credit to car manufacturers that are selling electric vehicles. I don't know if you've seen Tesla's sales in the past two years, but the American manufacturer is doing pretty well in that field. 

 

More Than Needed

 

So, here's the situation. Tesla has way more green credit than it needs, and this is why the car manufacturer started to sell most of it. And this isn't something relatively new since Tesla has been doing this for several years. Just in 2020 and just in Europe, Tesla was able to generate more than 300 million in revenue just by selling green credits because, yes, Dodge isn't the only one that wants a delicious meal without running a marathon if you get it. 

 

Some information on forums stated that Stellantis wanted to buy 1.27 billion worth of Tesla green credits for 2021, and even if it's a good source of revenue, Tesla won't brag about it. The electric car manufacturers seem to be very quiet about this subject with the media. Luckily, theirs is some places where we can find information, and on his side, Stellantis seems pretty relaxed about the idea of using a loophole to produce more Hellcat engines. However, don't assume Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and RAM don't care about the environment and the electric car vibe. The Pacifica, the mild-hybrid system you find in some vehicle and the 4xe Jeep line-up is definitely not there to fool you. With the recent merge with other brands to form Stellantis, Chrysler and the others have improved their hybrid and electric technologies for their vehicle. However, research and development in these specific fields are not cheap. Big V8 is more popular than ever within Chrysler's brands, which allows Stellantis to generate enough money to invest in research and development for new electric vehicles. 

 

If you put everything together, it is very funny because Tesla is selling green credit to Stellantis because it's hard to make a profit by selling electric vehicles. Dodge is buying green credit to make big V8 that are selling well and generating lots of money. Dodge isn't doing this because they don't care but mainly because V8 are selling faster and better than electric vehicles. However, the American manufacturer still wants to improve its EV line-up. So, politicians talk about electric cars because it's good for their image. After all, people think electric cars are good for the environment, and nobody wants to say they don't like the atmosphere. However, those same people who vote for politicians that make the laws and the promotions of electric vehicles still prefer V8's. I guess a lot of people don't do what their mouth is saying.

 

Don't worry; I don't want to make you feel bad if you just purchased a brand new Challenger SRT Hellcat because you're helping Dodge to buy more time to develop a better EV industry. In other words, you are assisting Dodge to build a better tomorrow by purchasing a big V8, and even if you do it just for the sake of hearing this 6.2 L supercharged V8 scream like a monster, you're still helping.  

 

Jean-Sébastien Poudrier