Dodge Confirms Electrified Future For the Charger, Challenger

"I think the absolute future is electrification of these cars," said the head honcho of Dodge. Tim Kuniskis also told Automotive News he’s “a firm believer that electrification will be the key to high performance in the future." The thing is, how will that pan out for the Charger and Challenger?

Kunikis couldn’t confirm if the solution would come in the form of electric axles, hybridization, plug-in hybrid, or battery electric. But on the upside, the price point of battery cells is coming down with each passing year. Not long now, electrification will enter the mainstream, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles wants a piece of the action whenever and however possible.

Even a mild-hybrid system such as the eTorque combines superior efficiency with short bursts of additional performance, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and BMW have both signed an agreement with ZF Friedrichshafen for the fourth generation of the 8HP, an eight-speed automatic transmission which features a built-in electric motor.

The Germans will kick off production in Germany in 2022, and the 8HP will further be manufactured stateside and in China. Given the scale of this agreement and the timing, the engineers are working as we speak to integrate this transmission into next-generation cars, utility vehicles, and pickup trucks.

Ferrari, which is still connected to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles following the establishment of Ferrari N.V. in 2015, pushed electrification a bit further with the introduction of the SF90 Stradale. A plug-in hybrid with 1,000 horsepower from a twin-turbo V8 and three electric motors, the supercar from Maranello uses electricity instead of internal combustion to drive in reverse.

In eDrive, the SF90 Stradale also promises up to 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) of electric range from a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 7.9 kWh. For the sake of comparison, the eTorque in the Ram 1500 features a 0.4-kWh battery mounted behind the rear seat.