As the third day of the inaugural Dodge Speed Week comes to a head, muscle car fans are still reeling from the recently announced demise of their beloved HEMI V8s come winter. Although Dodge reportedly plans on continuing to build Internal Combustion Engine vehicles beyond 2024, performance models will have the twin-turbo straight-six Hurrican engine due to increasingly stringent regulations.
With a standard output and a high output model on tap, consumers can expect virtually the same performance as their HEMI alternative, with a massive upgrade in fuel economy. Unfortunately for CEO Tim Kuniskis, according to the Dodge faithful, anything but a V8 engine is sacrilege — on par with catastrophes like the water-cooled Porsche or a forced induction M car.
Suffice to say, the head of the Dodge brand would have his hands full today presenting the "Future of Muscle" to the world.
Muscle Cars Forever
After relishing a small victory of 14,000 pre-orders for the Hornet, Kuniskis quickly got down to brass tacks discussing what comes next for the Detroit-based automaker: their first EV.
With the auto industry investing over $500 billion in EV technology, Dodge felt the walls closing in around them as all their competitors pivoted towards their electrified future. But as with most cases, Dodge felt it was only right to enter the game with a car they see fit rather than your quintessential econobox EV.
Intending to "reimagine the most iconic muscle car," Dodge landed on their most sacred marque, calling its upcoming 2024 Dodge Charger the Daytona SRT.
The Future Of The Muscle Car
Given the design ethos of an aerodynamic muscle car that can outperform V8s, Dodge still imagines the Daytona SRT will be more than just a track star. It will also be a capable and pleasant daily driver that's still worthy of bearing the Dodge name.
With numerous design cues for the car enthusiast including an all-new eRUPT multi-speed transmission and a 126-decibel loud Franzonic exhaust sound, Dodge hopes their first-ever EV can "save the muscle car," as Kuniskis puts it. This is certainly a large task for the automaker as they look to catch up to their peers after continuing to double down on gas-powered cars year after year.
With an anticipated 9 different power levels, the AWD Charger hopes to capture the imagination of its young demographic with subscription features like slam, drift, and drag mode. At the same time, offering a massive hatch and the comfort features of a Subaru Outback for the average weekend warrior demographic they hope to entice.
The lack of price or power figures by Dodge still leaves a lot to the imagination for the future of the muscle car. However, the birth of the eMuscle car ensures gear heads will have a future in the electrified world.