DETROIT– America’s muscle car culture will live on as the country transitions to electric vehicles, but the gas-powered performance car will be around for at least a few more years.
Dodge unveiled two battery-powered versions of the Charger muscle car on Tuesday that will still roar like a big V8 engine without exhaust pipe pollution.
However, the Stellantis brand, which has carved out a market niche in selling high-end vehicles, will also continue to sell a gas-powered Charger, without the big Hemi V8.
Both will be built at Stellantis’ global large vehicle base, and the Windsor, Ontario plant that will produce them will have the option of choosing between gasoline and electric depending on consumer demand. The flexibility allows Stellantis to hedge its bets as electric vehicle sales increase or decrease.
Last year, Stellantis stopped making gas-powered Chargers and Challengers, and many thought this would be the beginning of the end for the thunderous sedans.
But Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis said there were indications a gasoline version would live on. “It was always there. It was always in the plan. It always came,” he said.
However, the company downplayed the gas version by showing electric two- and four-door models that look a bit like the Chargers of the 1960s, with aerodynamic lines and hatchbacks instead of trunks.
The electric versions, named Charger Daytona after the NASCAR race track in Florida, will come with two powertrains, one of which produces up to 670 horsepower and can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) in 3.3 seconds . The other is no slouch with 496 horses and a zero to 60 time of 4.7 seconds.
Dodge claims the high-performance electric version is the fastest and most powerful muscle car in the world. Next year there will be a version with even higher performance.
The 496-horsepower Daytona is expected to have a range of 310 miles per charge, while the high-performance version can travel 258 miles.
Both will feature the company’s Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust, which sends air through the chamber to simulate the roar of a V8.
Both are heavy due to the large batteries, each with a gross vehicle weight of more than three tons.
The new gas-powered Charger Sixpack will look the same as the electric versions and be powered by a new 3-liter six-cylinder engine with two turbochargers. Standard versions will deliver 420 hp, while a high-output engine will have 550 hp.
The company says the new engine will produce more horsepower and more torque than the outgoing 5.7-liter and 6.4-liter Hemi V8s. Company officials said they have not yet completed fuel economy testing of the new engine in the Charger.
All versions have four-wheel drive, but can be switched to rear-wheel drive, so owners can still do burnouts and drifts. There will be options to prepare the cars for the race track.
Production of the two-door Daytona coupe versions is expected to start this summer, while the electric four-door and gas-powered versions will start early next year.
