Dodge’s controversial future is getting closer. The company published photos of a pre-production model of its upcoming electric muscle car on Instagram. The caption promises sales will begin in “late 2024.”
The grainy photos are staged to look like spy photos and published under the headline “no cameras allowed.” But they were released by the company as part of a carefully stage-managed public relations campaign — part of a long effort to prepare the Dodge faithful for the company’s transition to electric cars.
A Challenging Transition
Perhaps more than any other automaker, Dodge built its house out of V8 parts. But, like every major automaker, the company plans to go electric.
It spent 2023 preparing the faithful, which it calls “the brotherhood of muscle,” for the change. Dodge said a yearlong goodbye to its Charger sedan and Challenger coupe. It built a series of Last Call Charger and Challenger models as a final tribute, saluting famous models from company history.
The last of them, the Challenger SRT Demon 170, took the all-time throne as the most powerful production Dodge ever built, with 1,025 horsepower.
At the same time, Dodge started an even slower introduction of what it calls its first “electric muscle car.”
The company took the wraps off the Charger Daytona concept last summer. It wears classic muscle car lines and comes complete with an aggressive sound that (sort of) mimics the V8 roar.
Muscle Car Looks With EV Engineering
But it’s all an artful costume.
The blunt nose, reminiscent of 1960s Dodge designs, is actually a front airfoil (Dodge calls it the “R-wing” for obscure reasons) hiding a sleek, aerodynamic nose beneath. The metallic roar comes thanks to air forced through resonating pipes beneath.
It may well be quicker and more powerful than the outgoing Charger and Challenger. Engineers have an easier time reaching dramatic horsepower numbers with electric motors, and electric cars out-accelerate their gas-powered counterparts.
Just last year, the electric Rimac Nevera obliterated most production car performance records.
A Rough Reception So Far
But if the comments on Dodge’s Instagram post are any guide, the “brotherhood” doesn’t care. At press time, negative comments far outweighed positive comments on the photos.
Dodge may even hedge its bets. A persistent rumor says the Charger Daytona may also be offered with a gasoline engine, and leaked photos of production seem to show a provision for a transmission tunnel — something electric cars lack.
