Dodge has backflipped on its threat to turn its Charger muscle car into an all-electric model by showing off the new generation with a surprise stonking internal combustion powertrain.
While the Hemi V8 seems gone for good, Dodge will sell its new Charger in the US with a twin-turbo 3.0-litre ‘Hurricane’ straight-six producing up to 410kW, while a 313kW version will also be offered. That’s despite the Charger being the first vehicle to debut on Stellantis’s STLA Large platform, a dedicated electric vehicle architecture expected to underpin numerous future electric models in the Stellantis empire.
READ MORE: Dodge previews electric ‘muscle car’
Called the Sixpack SO and HO – for Standard Output and High Output – Dodge offered minimal details on its new-generation internal combustion Charger variants, stating power outputs and that’s about it.
That was in stark contrast to the two electric, dual-motor, all-wheel-drive Chargers that are headed for US buyers – the 370kW Daytona R/T and halo 500kW Daytona Scat Pack. Despite each weighing 2648kg, Dodge said the Daytona Scat Pack is “the world’s quickest and most powerful muscle car” and can sprint from zero to 60mph (96km/h) in just 3.3 seconds, on to an 11.5-second claimed quarter mile.
As well as Auto, Eco, Sport, Wet/Snow and Track modes, there is Donut Mode, Drift Mode, Line Lock and Launch Control – all hoping to entice Dodge diehards from their V8 strongholds into the world of electric muscle cars.
Both electric models will also be fitted with Dodge’s new “Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust” – an external speaker plumbed into a muffler-like chamber designed to shape the vehicle’s sound into something ideally as emotive as the old Hemi V8.
Dodge has said the artificial exhaust will deliver “Hellcat levels of sound intensity that set the Charger apart from ordinary BEVs (battery electric vehicles)” – and that engineers have changed the noise “100 times”, Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis recently told assembled media.
To offer a more familiar driving feel, both Daytona electric models are fitted with mechanical limited slip rear differentials; while a 100.5kWh (93.9kWh useable) nickel cobalt aluminium battery pack offers 510km of claimed range in Daytona R/T guise and 418km for the more powerful Scat Pack. The 400-volt architecture enables 350kW DC fast recharging, 20-to-80-percent capacity achievable in 27 minutes.
Dodge said four-door models would also commence production next year.
As for Australian prospects, with the Dodge brand not established in Australia and no right-hand-drive manufacturing announced, it seems the new Charger will be a US-only proposition for now, excepting privately imported, custom-converted vehicles.
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