autoevolution
 

Next-Generation Dodge Muscle Car Rumored With Demon-Slaying Electric Powertrain

As far as the Big Three in Detroit are concerned, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles doesn’t have the all-electric background of General Motors and the Ford Motor Company. But EV demand keeps growing, many European countries intend to ban the sale of all-new ICE vehicles, and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards are getting more draconic, catching the Italo-American automaker between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
SpeedKore Dodge Demon 43 photos
Photo: SpeedKore via Bring a Trailer
SpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kitSpeedKore Dodge Demon with full carbon-fiber body kit
The fastest road-legal car that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles offered in recent memory is the Demon, but its go-faster credentials have been obliterated by Tesla with the introduction of the Model S Plaid. The full-size sedan from Fremont whoops the Mopar machine to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers) and over the quarter-mile run, and this poses a rather obvious question.

What’s next for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and especially for the Demon?

According to more than a half-dozen insiders who spoke to The Detroit Bureau, at least six electric vehicles are currently penned in the company’s design studio in Auburn Hills. The cited publication understands that one of those vehicles “will be the fastest Dodge ever,” which is a tall order indeed.

Not that long ago, the original Fiat 500e wasn’t a segment-leading car. The 2021 model year Fiat 500e isn’t on par with the electric vehicles offered by Groupe PSA, the French conglomerate that merged with FCA to create Stellantis, and the all-electric Jeep Wrangler still is nowhere to be seen. Be that as it may, Guidehouse Insights analyst Sam Abuelsamid believes that “the days of the Hellcat are numbered. It’s not a product that’s sustainable.”

As the headline implies, there’s no hard evidence to confirm an electric-powered replacement for the Demon. The Detroit Bureau relies on hearsay and industry analysts to vaguely guesstimate what the future holds for the American half of Stellantis N.V., and given time, the inevitable will happen.

The most plausible outcome for the next-generation Hellcat and Demon is plug-in hybridization in the guise of an electric motor built into the transmission. FCA ordered lots of hybridized transmissions from ZF Friedrichshafen in July 2019, and the most potent configuration of them all provides 215 horsepower and 332 pound-feet (450 Nm) of e-assistance.

Add a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 to the mix, and you get a strip-slaying machine that should use less dinosaur juice than today's muscle cars.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)

Editor's note: SpeedKore Dodge Demon pictured in the gallery.

About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories