The first electric muscle car? And what about the Mustang Mach-E? Fair question, but the Ford is an SUV. It would be presumptuous to put it in the box of high-performance sports cars and act as if it fits. So Dodge isn’t wrong when they tout the new, battery-powered Charger as the “world’s first electric muscle car.” Because unlike the Ford pony, the Charger remains true to its form.
Dodge offers up to 670 horsepower
Two models are scheduled to go into production soon. Dodge launches the Charger Daytona Scat Pack and the Dodge Charger Daytona R/T. The basic model, the R/T, has 496 hp, and if you drive a Scat Pack, you have access to 670 electric horses. According to the manufacturer, the car with the most powerful engine should accelerate to 100 km/h in just over three seconds.
As with other Charger models, you shouldn’t expect a family-friendly everyday car, but rather a fun sports car. This is demonstrated, among other things, by the numerous racing options with which you can adapt the propulsion very precisely to the respective needs. There is, for example, a drift mode, a donut mode, a locking of the front wheels for burnouts (Dodge calls it “tire cleaning”) and a power shot button that switches on 40 hp additional power for a short time.
No “super charger”
If you don’t always drive the car at the limit, it should have a range of up to 500 kilometers. The charger draws its energy from a 100.5 kilowatt-hour battery. The name Charger would probably have been perfect for setting new speed records at the charging station, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Dodge is stingy with precise information, but states that the charge from 20 to 80 percent can be achieved in a little less than 30 minutes – which, like the 400-volt system, now corresponds to a higher standard, but clearly different from other manufacturers is overshadowed.
The idea of trying to create an atmosphere like a V8 with the Fratzonic “exhaust system” may sound a little strange. If desired, the system can generate vibrations and sounds that are otherwise only known from large engines. You will have to wait for a listen before you can form an opinion about this seemingly strange development. If necessary it could be switched off.
There will still be combustion engines
With the new model series, Dodge is saying goodbye to the legendary V8, which is actually inextricably linked to the muscle car vehicle category, but is not leaving fossil fuel fans completely out in the cold. The Dodge Charger Sixpack HO and the Sixpack SO are two vehicles with six-cylinder engines, the top version of which offers 550 hp.
However, the priority is clear: Production of the electric chargers will start in the summer, and Dodge will not assemble the combustion engines until the first quarter of 2025.