Dodge EV vs. Dodge Challenger at the L.A. Auto Show

This week marks the arrival of the Los Angeles Auto Show, which is a big deal thanks in part to the debuts of big-interest rides such as the 2010 Mustang and the new Nissan Z car. Automakers also like to trot out their green wares in Cali, which is why we'll see Ford also pull the wraps off the all-new Fusion, including a highly-anticipated hybrid version. As previously reported here, L.A. is also ground zero for the absurdly-timed "2009 Green Car of the Year" award.

While Chrysler has no new products in the pipeline and faces a future as uncertain as the rest of Detroit (a subplot underscored by GM's essentially backing out of the show in all meaningful ways), it's trotting out its three recently-unveiled EV concepts in la-la land. None of them are anywhere close to production right now, but Chrysler says they're planning to put some sort of test fleet out next year. We'll have to wait to see if that really comes to pass, but in the interim, the Pentastar is going to milk the concepts for all they're worth.

Pulitzer Prize-winning L.A. Times auto scribe Dan Neil was on hand for a parking lot dog-and-pony show starring the all-electric Dodge EV sports car. In case you missed it, the Dodge EV is a Lotus Europa which has had its traditional 4-cylinder drive-train replaced with a lithium ion battery back and an electric motor. It's essentially identical in concept to the Tesla Roadster (itself also derived from a Lotus sports car, the Elise).

Dodge decided to line up the EV against a knuckle-dragging, fire-breathing, 400+-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT8 that also just happened to be on scene. Neil's group had set up video and captured both races between the disparate performance cars. The EV proto takes both, but there's some question as to whether the Challenger was holding back (especially in race #2, as you'll see in the video above). Watch for yourself and see what you think, then feel free to weigh in with your own thoughts.

Speaking personally, I think the EV's cool and all, but if you want to know which one I'd rather have today, it's the Challenger. After all, it's the one that you can actually go to a dealer and buy -- you know, today.

Alex Nunez is associate editor of Autoblog.com