Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept car
To dodge
DETROIT — Dodge on Wednesday unveiled a new concept car dubbed the Charger Daytona SRT as a preview of its first all-electric muscle car, expected in 2024.
The two-door coupe is the first glimpse of what the future vehicle, which will replace Dodge’s current gasoline engine Muscle cars Challenger and Charger, should look like. The car also features several new technologies intended to give it the feel and drive of a traditional muscle car.
“This car, we believe, will redefine American muscle,” said Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis, known for over-the-top vehicles like the brand’s. Hellcat models over 700 horsepowersaid at a press briefing.
The concept vehicle looks like a futuristic, yet retro, version of the Current Dodge Challenger with a more aerodynamic, but muscular design. Most notably, the front features a large opening for the passage of air, which the company calls an “R-Wing”.
The “R-Wing” of the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept car features a Fratzog logo in the middle.
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The front fender as well as the vehicle’s “Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust” and “eRupt” multi-speed transmission — names apt for the “Back to the Future” movies — are patent pending, according to the company.
The multi-speed transmission and exhaust are particularly unique, as EVs only run in one “gear” and are relatively quiet apart from the required safety noises.
“Not a science project”
Automakers routinely use concept vehicles to gauge customer interest or show the future direction of a vehicle or brand. The vehicles are not intended for sale to consumers.
However, Kuniskis says many technologies and design elements of the Charger Daytona SRT should make it a production vehicle.
“It’s not a science project,” he said. “It looks like a Dodge, sounds like a Dodge and drives like a Dodge.”
Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept car
To dodge
Kuniskis said the 2024 production electric muscle car is set to launch with three different performance levels, but will eventually be expanded to nine. The concept car is equipped with an 800-volt “Banshee” propulsion system.
Dodge declined to release expected performance metrics for the concept car or the yet-to-be-named production muscle car.
The next electric vehicle in 2024 will replace Dodge’s gas-powered Charger and Challenger muscle cars, which the automaker said on Monday would be stopped at the end of 2023.
New technology
The car’s patent-pending technologies are intended to retain the sound and ride characteristics of Dodge’s current gas-powered Chargers and Challengers for all future all-electric muscle cars, according to Kuniskis.
While EVs can be fast with “linear acceleration” that produces amazing times from 0 to 60 mph, they often lack the driving dynamics that many performance car owners enjoy. It’s a problem auto executives are privately trying to address as the industry transitions to electric vehicles.
Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept car
To dodge
“We said, ‘OK, if this is going to happen, let’s do it like Dodge,'” Kuniskis said. “We’re not going to go out there and do the same thing. Dodge is going to get lost if we try to do the same thing as everyone else.”
The Charger concept’s exhaust system, which Kuniskis says is as loud as a Hellcat engine, pushes sound through an amplifier and tuning chamber at the rear of the vehicle. He compared it to a wind organ with chambers and pipes.
The eRupt technology, he said, is a multi-speed transmission “with electromechanical shifting” that “provides distinctive shift points” like today’s muscle, performance cars.
The innovations could help Dodge retain its performance specs as well as its buyers, who have bought millions of Challengers and Chargers over the years, according to Stephanie Brinley, principal analyst at S&P Global.
“It’s exactly what you expect from a two-door Dodge EV,” she said. “It looks the part, it sounds the part and it’s pretty exciting.”
Wealth indices
Much of the concept vehicle was inspired by Stellar-possessed of Dodge history, officials say. The name itself – Charger Daytona SRT – is made up of nomenclature Dodge has commonly used.
The “R-Wing” was inspired by the “nose cone” front end of the 1969-1970 Charger Daytona. And while today’s Charger is a four-door vehicle, the original generations from the 1960s were two-door, like the concept.
Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept car
To dodge
The “Fratzonic” exhaust refers to a Dodge logo used from 1962 to 1976 called “Fratzog”, a word coined by a designer. It features a split deltoid made up of three arrowhead shapes that form a three-pointed star.
Kuniskis said some of the design elements and technologies should impact the vehicles’ electric range, but that’s not something Dodge is necessarily worried about.
“I don’t care, it’s badass…it’s a muscle car,” Kuniskis said.