Prepare yourself — an electric Dodge is coming.
Stellantis laid out its electrification strategy, aiming for low-emission vehicles to comprise 40% of its U.S. sales across brands by 2030. That applies to all fourteen brands across the lineup, and we’ve seen most lean into electrification to some extent, with one notable exception: Dodge. That changes today, as the brand used this opportunity to finally tease its first electric muscle car, due out in 2024.
While they put that out on full display during their presentation, of course they’re keeping specific products up their sleeve for the time being. All we get is a smoke-filled, slightly illuminated sillhouette of what looks to be a modern take on the classic Dodge Charger, right down to the old-school lines and square grille. Now, while this concept may morph into the next Charger — again, Dodge’s actual intent with regard to products still needs fleshing out — that badge may point in a different direction. That badge isn’t entirely new to the brand. Something like it appeared in 1960’s-era muscle cars including the Dart, among others. Note: It’s called the “Fratzog”, and Chrysler used it from 1962 to 1976 on quite a few Dodge-branded cars. Sorry enthusiasts, no offense intended — my knowledge is fuzzy there.
If that’s the case, it’s certainly better than its last outing as an Alfa Romeo-based economy car, don’t you think?
Dodge will sell “American eMuscle”
Thursday’s news certainly runs against the brand’s recent “Hellcat everything” philosophy to cement the brotherhood of power. To that end, brand CEO Tim Kuniskis draws a line by saying Dodge “will not sell electric cars”. Instead, it’s selling “American eMuscle”, aiming to beat Ford and GM to the punch with a fully-electric muscle car. Now, the winds have been shifting these past several months, as powers that be admit they need to embrace electrification as the next step in the company’s evolution. Basically, they’ve cranked up the iconic Hemi V8 to its limits, and both diminishing rates of return and tightening regulations mean Dodge needs to think in a new direction to survive.
Stellantis laid out their new “STLA” platforms, of which Dodge’s “eMuscle” cars would fall in the “Large” category. Around that, they’ll have STLA Small, Medium and Frame layouts. Three electric drive modules that combine the motor, gearbox and inverter will power the range, scaling up or down to meet each of those applications. From city cars up through midsize passenger cars or crossovers, SUVs and trucks, Stellantis targets anywhere between 300 miles on the small end, to around 500 miles with their larger vehicles.
Naturally, we’ll have to wait awhile to know more with certainty. Stellantis did say it aims to source 250 Gigawatt-hours worht of batteries from five “gigafactories” in Europe and North America to support their drive toward EVs. We doubt Dodge will leave performance on the table, either, as they did hint at the 880 horsepower range for performance potential using a pair of 330-kW electric motors.
