When is a muscle car not a muscle car? When it’s electric, surely. The whole idea of a muscle car separated from an enormous petrol engine seems not just counterintuitive, but counter to the whole concept. Installing an improbably large V8 in something comparatively modest - typically with the intention of making it go very fast in a straight line - is what gives a car 'muscle'. By historical definition. Otherwise, we’re just talking numbers.
Of course, that’s not what Dodge thinks. It says it wants to ignite ‘a new era of automotive muscle’. If it is concerned about semantics, it does not let it show: the just unveiled all-new Dodge Charger is ‘the world’s first and only electric muscle car’ because Dodge says it is - case closed. No matter the staggering levels of output already achieved elsewhere in the EV segment. And while it wasn’t the first manufacturer to turn its attention to building muscle cars, it can point to building one of the standard-bearers since 1966 - and several of the best ones very recently. Seven generations of Charger have given it plenty of clout.
At any rate, it knows the writing is on the wall. If we want to have muscle cars (we do) then on a long enough timeline, even in North America, they must eventually be battery-powered. And no one could accuse it of half-arsing the first muscle car through that wall. Available as a two-door coupe and (in time) a four-door saloon, it certainly looks the part, being low and squat and lit up like a funfair. There will be an entry-level Daytona R/T model with 456hp and 404lb ft of torque, but let’s skip over that and mainly consider the Scat Pack version that will come with up to 670hp and 627lb ft of torque and accelerate to 60mph in 3.3 seconds.
“Charger Hellcat Redeye levels of performance,” says a clearly satisfied Tim Kuniskis, Dodge’s chief executive officer. And if we gloss over the fact that the old Hellcat could knock on the door of 200mph given enough room (the EV runs out of puff at 134mph) then that’s true. Dodge also reckons that the latest all-wheel-drive Charger will do a standing 1/4 mile in 11.5 seconds (also in the Hellcat ballpark) but on the basis that time is still an estimate, it probably deserves to be glossed over too. What isn’t in doubt is that the steel unibody car is based on an all-new platform (the so-called STLA Large) and will be made available with a variety of suspension and powertrain modules.
The 400-volt ‘propulsion system’ is split between two adaptive Electric Drive Modules (as Dodge likes to call them) that both feature a 3-in-1 configuration of inverter, gearbox and motor. Naturally, there is one per axle in the Charger, each capable of generating up to 335hp and 300lb ft of torque. The main difference between the two is that the front can be disconnected to improve efficiency, while the back gets a mechanical limited-slip differential (no prizes for guessing where the focus is dynamically, then). It seems like all Chargers will get 20-inch wheels, with staggered 305-section front and 325-section rear tyres available to Scat Pack buyers alongside uprated 16-inch brakes.
We won’t get bogged down in the six varying ‘performance levels’ Dodge has extracted from its one powertrain (rest assured there is 456hp at the cheapest end and 670hp at the other) although the installed capacity of the 100.5kW battery pack remains the same regardless, as does a 183kW charging rate. Accordingly, you get 317 miles of EPA-graded range in the R/T and 260 miles in the Scat Pack. Fairly modest numbers in 2024, it must be said - but Dodge is more interested in talking about things like a peak discharge of 550kW, ‘specifically designed to maximise acceleration by allowing the motor to utilise the most power the battery can output in the span of a quarter mile.’ And who can argue with that?
Owners will be able to adjust the level of regenerative braking via paddle shifts, although by some distance the most interesting thing mounted on the steering wheel is the new PowerShot button that ‘delivers an incremental 40hp for 15 seconds when activated by a throttle punch’. Additionally, you get Auto, Eco, Sport, Wet/Snow and Track drive settings, while the Scat Pack adds a Drag mode (guess what that does) and the option of Donut and Drift Mode (ditto). The latter is said to permit three levels of slip angle, and because the Track Package adds dual-valve active dampers, selecting it will ensure the front end goes super soft and the back ‘full stiff’ to help you reach them.
The rest of the chassis is comprised of a front multi-link and unique-to-Charger rear four-link suspension, and Dodge claims a ‘near perfect weight distribution between the two axles’. This is good to hear because, somewhat predictably, there’s quite a lot of weight to distribute: the preliminary data says the car tips the scales at 2,648kg. For that heft, you get all mod cons inside, including a free-floating 10.25-inch (Daytona R/T) or 16-inch (Scat Pack) instrument cluster alongside a 12.3-inch central touchscreen. There’s also the prospect of the patent-pending Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust system, which is said to use two passive radiators to create a noise with ‘Hellcat levels of sound intensity’.
As you might expect, that’s all about shattering ‘the preconception of a typical quiet BEV’ - the one point where Dodge concedes that it might face an uphill struggle convincing some buyers to make the transition to battery power. Or should we say, the second point: the first is confirmation that when the dust has settled on the world’s only electric muscle car - i.e. by Q1 next year - the manufacturer will promptly fit the Charger with a new petrol engine, specifically the twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre Hurricane straight-six in 420hp and 550hp derivatives. Dodge says it ‘will give the Brotherhood of Muscle a gas option that produces better horsepower and torque numbers than the outgoing 5.7- and 6.4-litre HEMI’ V8s. Presumably, the firm is also hoping that it stops them retrieving pitchforks from the tool shed. Expect to hear more on prices and spec before EV production begins in the summer.
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