Ferrari Luce vs. Dodge Charger DaytonaMotorTrend"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."Remember when that iconic, high-performance car brand launched its first all-electric car, with great fanfare, and its passionate fanbase around the world collectively lost its ever lovin' mind and raged online about it for weeks on end? Ferrari Luce? Yes. Dodge Charger Daytona? Also yes.See the full episode below:AdvertisementAdvertisementOn this episode of The InEVitable, we chat with Mamatha Chamarthi, most recently the former chief software business officer at Stellantis, about a range of topics, including her thoughts and feelings about the Ferrari Luce and Dodge Charger EV. Chamarthi is a loud and proud tifosi, which means she's a loyal fan of Ferrari, its Formula 1 program, and its production cars.The Ferrari Luce is the brand's first EV and first five-seat production vehicle.FerrariShe was also heavily involved in the software side of Dodge's parent company during the period of time when the Dodge Charger went from V-8s to electric motors and the brand launched its "Brotherhood of Muscle" marketing campaign. Which vehicle was she more disappointed in when it comes to honoring its storied heritage? You'll have to check out this episode for Chamarthi's unique, data-driven point of view. We guarantee you'll be entertained.One of the most controversial features of the Dodge Charger Daytona EV is its "Fratzonic" sound generator, which is meant to add emotion to the driving experience.MotorTrend - MotorTrendWhere did we find such an outspoken automotive technologist? Back in 2023, Chamarthi was one of the stars of MotorTrend's groundbreaking "Coding the Car"documentary, which focused on the emergence of the software-defined vehicle (SDV). We found her insights and enthusiasm so compelling, we leapt at the opportunity to get an update from her on the state of SDVs and the automotive industry, given her many years of experience at OEMs, including DaimlerChrysler and Stellantis, and tier one suppliers as varied as ZF and Goodyear.Ed Loh and LumiOm founder Mamatha ChamarthiBrent Baer - MotorTrendWe cover a lot of ground in this conversation, including whether the transition to software-defined vehicles can weather the current, and potentially brief, transition back to internal combustion powertrains. This is especially relevant when it comes to her previous employer, Stellantis, which has made a lot of noise about dropping electric vehicles as it adds back V-8s to its most iconic models. Speaking of noise, yes, we get into the controversial "Fratzonic" chambered exhaust noise added to the Charger Daytona.As the American car industry shifts back to a multitude of powertrains, from ICE to hybrid to plug-in hybrid and range extenders to full electric, the question remains—can one tech stack rule them all?MotorTrend - MotorTrendAdvertisementAdvertisementChamarthi also breaks down whether all of the moves towards centralized computing in the vehicle, namely zonal architectures and the layers of complex software, really are powertrain agnostic; that is, can car companies who sell gas-only, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and full EVs really design the tech stack once and apply it to all of these diverse use cases?Chamarthi has just "come out of stealth" with her new company, LumiOm.ai, an AI enterprise based on the concept of "strategy as a service." While her new company's mission statement may sound wild reading it as words on page, when you hear Chamarthi's seasoned take on the automotive world, drawn from her nearly 30 years of experience as a technologist at some of the globe's biggest companies, you'll see why it doesn't sound far-fetched at all.Check out this episode right here or on our YouTube channel. Download the podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what you hear, please tell your friends, share us on social media, and don't forget to give us a five-star review. Thanks.