PONTIAC, Michigan — It’s That '70s Show again with the federal government on the warpath to eliminate V-8s, gas-guzzlers and fun. But the fun-lovin’ Dodge brand wants to stay a step ahead of the killjoys.
"It's like if they decided to ban cows — but 5% of the population is vegetarian and the rest still wanted beef. The meat industry would figure it out, they'd make Impossible Burgers and other stuff,” said Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis in an interview ahead of the reveal of his brand’s first electric car. “Same for the auto industry, we'll figure it out. We've seen this type of upheaval before in 1972, but this time we were warned the regulations were coming."
Dodge is bringing a lot of meat to the EV table.
The ferocious, all-electric Charger Daytona SRT Concept is the first look at Dodge EVs that will replace the iconic V-8-powered Challenger and Charger muscle cars when they go extinct in 2024. With menacing, retro-1960s style, a V-8 soundtrack and a Banshee logo aft of the front fender where a Hellcat used to be, the Charger Daytona SRT intends to electrify the EV era.
“If the world is going (electric),” said Kuniskis, “then it’s got to look like a Dodge, sound like a Dodge and drive like a Dodge.”
Here are five notable things about the concept:
1) The sound. Yes, this EV makes noise. A lot of noise. The same insane, 126 decibels of V-8 sound as a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 Hellcat engine. Dodge achieves this feat using a patented system called the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust.
It’s basically a pipe organ hanging under the rear bumper that uses air and valves to create a sci-fi V-8 bellow. Under the Chrysler design dome in Auburn Hills before some media guests, Dodge revved the concept car like a Hellcat. BRAAAP, BRAAAP, BRAAAP.
“We worked for a long time to get that sound right, because we wanted a sound that was fresh, new and modern. We also wanted something that made you feel comfortable,” said Kuniskis. “The secret sauce in that sound — although it sounds like a new, modern thing — is it is (he knocks on the table) the firing order of a V-8 engine.”
Nail the throttle and Kuniskis says its multi-speed, electro-mechanical transmission - dubbed eRupt - will upshift like a V-8, too. How many shifts? “We’re still working on that. More than two.”
2) Daytona, Romberg & R-wing. Like Corvette Stingray or Porsche GTS, Charger Daytona is a special name in the Dodge lexicon. It’s not thrown around casually.
The brand’s first EV is called the Dodge Daytona in homage to the legendary, sleek, late 1960s NASCAR that dominated the sport as the first stock car to hit 200 mph (ultimately evolving into the 1970 Plymouth Superbird). Just 500 production versions were ordered (for homologation purposes) with copies selling for $1.5 million at auction today. Interestingly, the EV adopts an open-frame version of the brooding, horizontal grille of the standard ‘68 Charger – with the Daytona’s signature, sloped aerodynamic nosecone design slipped in behind the opening to suck the car to the ground - creating a low drag co-efficient that made the NASCAR so fast.
“The car we always wanted to redo was the 1968 Charger, arguably the most iconic muscle car ever,” said Kuniskis. “But that was going to be a brick. We were going to need a 150 kWh battery (which would cost) $15,000 . . . and that’s not going to be price competitive. So let’s put Gary Romberg’s nose on it. It’s got to look like a melted jelly bean to make the aero guys happy, but it’s got to look like a muscle car. So he built the wing over it so now it looks like a proper muscle car, but hidden in it.”
Dodge dubbed the design the R-wing after Romberg, the NASA-trained engineer brought over to work on Charger from Dodge’s then-aerospace division. Rear of the sleek nose, the coke-bottle body echoes the original with muscular hips and a fast back. The ’69 Charger Daytona’s high wing is conspicuously missing.
“Didn’t need it,” smiled Kuniskis.
3) It’s a hatchback. Past Chargers (including the winged Daytona) all came with rear trunks. But in the SUV age, Dodge is determined to offer its new halo car with a touch of ute utility. Thus a sportback found on other premium cars like the Audi A7 and Kia Stinger.
“People buy SUVs because they have a command-of-the-road, higher-seating position, all-weather capability, and increased utility,” said Kuniskis. “We can’t give you command of the road because I’m going to build a muscle car. . . but I’m gonna’ get a plus on its looks because its bad-ass, so I think I’m neutral there. And we’re going to the hatch. It’s huge. When that hatch goes up and the seats fold, you have SUV utility (back) there.”
The EV concept has bucket seats in the rear. It’s a concept thing. The real car will have a bench rear seat for proper fold-down cargo utility.
4) All-wheel-drive. The other piece of SUV utility that Charger Daytona brings is all-wheel-drive. Every version of the EV will have power at all four corners — a departure from past Chargers that were rear-wheel-drive, save the last-gen, AWD V-6 engine offering.
“I’m going to give you full-time AWD on all of my cars no matter what it is so I have all-weather capability,” said Dodge’s boss.
AWD capability means front and rear electric motors, which will help — not only in Michigan’s four seasons — but channel the massive torque coming from Charger Daytona’s big battery.
How much power? Kuniskis is mum. But expect it to be close to the 100 kWh found in the Tesla Model S Plaid or 93 kWh unit in the Porsche Taycan.
5) The 400/800 kWh skateboard. Sitting on an all-new skateboard battery platform with up to 800-volt, fast-charge capability like Taycan or Genesis GV60, the Charger EV won’t have an engine up front. Dodge designers use that space for the aerodynamic R-wing — not a frunk (front trunk) like Tesla or Taycan.
With the battery slung low for a low center of gravity and the aerodynamics working top-side, the big Dodge’s handling should impress.
The wild card is whether Dodge’s “Brotherhood of Muscle” will accept the manufactured V-8 sound and battery range limitations. At Roadkill Nights — the legal Woodward drag racing sponsored by Dodge over the weekend here — the faithful were skeptical, taking a wait-and-see attitude.
Whatever their opinion, the Charger Daytona will likely be the most talked about new EV this year. Just like this fun-lovin’ brand wanted.
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