The future is now. Dodge has been teasing this car for quite a while. But when they first mentioned an EV, we weren't expecting it to drop this soon. However, we have known for a while that it was going to happen on Tuesday, March 5. The automaker reveals the last teaser before the big day, and it is nothing we haven't seen already.
We are just hours away from the big reveal. We are going to see the much-anticipated next-generation Dodge Charger muscle car. And for the first time ever, it is going to drop as an EV and an ICE but with the almighty HEMI V8 engine missing from the lineup. Regardless of the HEMI being absent, the Charger still remains one of the most hotly anticipated performance cars of 2024.
What we do know is that the Charger is going to feature most of the design cues of the Charger Daytona SRT concept that Dodge unveiled last summer. The carmaker is going to strip it of all the impossible-to-put-into-production elements, huge wheels included.
Other than that, the production version will retain the retro-styled liftback silhouette, light signature, and intimidating stance down to the last wheel spoke. Dodge is rolling out the Charger as a two-door coupe, which pretty much cuts out a large part of the market.
The Charger is going to be underpinned by Stellantis’ STLA large platform, which can support both ICEs and EVs. We have yet to see the exact numbers in terms of both output and torque, performance figures, and range. However, all versions should get at least a dual-motor setup and either the 85- or the 118-kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
Photo: Dodge
What we do know, though, is that the two variants featuring the 400-volt architecture will be called 340 and 440, which is the output in kilowatts of the two. This means that the 340 will go for 456 horsepower (462 metric horsepower), and the 440 will come with 590 horsepower (598 horsepower).
Customers will be able to upgrade their Chargers up to 496 or 536 horsepower (503 and 544 metric horsepower) for the 340 version and 630 or 671 horsepower (639 or 680 metric horsepower) for the 440.
To heal the HEMI nostalgia, Dodge comes up with the Fratzonic Chambered exhaust system that channels the sound through an amplifier all the way to the rear of the car, providing it with a V8 soundtrack.
There will also be an ICE involved, but the V8 will be nowhere to be seen. Dodge will plant the Hurricane V6 inline-six engine in its best form possible under the hood of the performance sedan. That means it should go as far as 500 horsepower (507 metric horsepower). It is the unit that made its debut with the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer in 2022.
The Charger is going to hit dealerships in the second half of 2024 as a 2025 model year. That is when we are going to see if Dodge nailed the transition to the era of electric muscle cars. Chevrolet has already announced the demise of the Camaro, while the V8-powered Ford Mustang is here to stay as long as there is a demand for it.
The electric Dodge Charger arrives in a lineup full of super potent ICEs
The first-ever electrified Dodge was the Hornet, tagged as the best-in-class standard performance in the compact utility vehicle segment. However, the carmaker is still bragging about its ICEs.
They still have the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world in their lineup, the Dodge Charger SRT Redeye with 797 horsepower. The most powerful SUV in the world also bears the Dodge badge: the Durango SRT Hellcat sports 710 horsepower.
The Challenger SRT Super Stock with 807 horsepower rounds up what Dodge calls the industry’s most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American automaker across its entire lineup. A lineup that will also include the new-generation Dodge Charger starting tomorrow, March 5, at 11:00 EST.
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