It might have seen laughable the idea of Dodge, the purveyors of V8 muscle and a brilliantly mad engineering team that crams Hellcat engines into increasingly insane vehicles building an electric car. But the winds are blowing towards green motoring, and even Dodge has to face the music. But rather than bowing to the pressure, the performance brand has revealed that it will indeed build an all-electric muscle car to cater to a new generation of buyers.
Reaching The Limit Opens Up New Engineering Avenues
https://youtu.be/l7Bp730y53o
Dodge claims that part of their decision centered on the fact that the Hemi V8 and all of its wild derivatives were finally reaching the limits of what was possible in terms of adding extra horsepower and performance. That makes sense since the current crop of V8s can trace their origins back to the DaimlerChrysler era and have been reliable soldiers for Stellantis in the years since.
As such, the move towards electrification will be seen as a natural evolution for Dodge, and in theory, it opens some new doors for the brand moving forward. One prominent one is that a next-gen EV muscle car would benefit from lighter materials. The current crop of Charger and Challenger models benefit from a reskinned Mercedes platform that’s just as old as the engines that power it. But while the platform has proven to be a flexible set of bones that will undoubtedly star in a future book on the subject, it is also very heavy, and that has caused the duo to have laughably bad fuel economy and handling. A lighter architecture will help inject some much-needed vigor into the handling, and proper placement of the batteries and motors will create a better center of gravity.
A Subtle Tease Points To Dodge’s Future
Unless you enjoy a healthy dose of marketing fluff, we suggest that you skip ahead to 3:33 of Stellantis’s EV Day video, where the good stuff appears. The shadowy teaser segments don’t reveal too much. Still, the basic profile, as well as some of the rounded bits on display, do seem to show that Dodge designers have injected a good amount of 1970 Challenger DNA into the car with LED strips and lighting being splashed about in all the right places.
The mysterious triangular-shaped logos at the front and the back (colored blue and red, respectively) are actually a subtle nod to the past and are, in fact, Fratzog logos. It has been a while since we have seen the Fratzog, with their last appearance on a production vehicle occurring back in 1976. We have not heard anything up to this point about the familiar crosshair front grille being pitched by Dodge, but perhaps the Fratzog could symbolize the logo for Dodge’s broader electric vehicle offerings. It would allow them to be visually different from ICE-powered models and also allow the EVs to create and channel their own distinct identity.
As expected, Dodge chose not to release any further details on the mysterious EV, but the car appears to do a four-wheeled burnout at one point in the video. That could suggest that each wheel is hooked up to a motor and can perform this neat party trick when the car is placed into a certain vehicle setting.
When Will We See This EV Muscle Car?
It’s not known exactly when the world will have a chance to formally see the car, but Dodge did reveal that the car will appear in 2024. That timeline will allow the company to perfect the EV technology and hone some aspects of the car before going into mass production. Either way, we’re excited, and we will certainly keep our eyes peeled for any further developments.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.