Dodge, maybe alone amongst modern automakers, has seen immense success in translating the archaic Twentieth-century Muscle Automotive formulation into the twenty first. It has accomplished this by stuffing more and more outrageous iterations of its trendy Hemi V8 into practically each automobile in its product line. Its fervent Hellcat-ing has been sufficient, surprisingly, to keep up steadily vigorous gross sales of its Challenger coupe and Charger sedan, 20-year-old vehicles aping 55-year-old designs and using on platforms developed greater than 30 years in the past.
However these autos are lastly going away. They are going to be changed by flexible-powertrain two- and four-door fashions, each referred to as Charger, that shall be motivated, at launch in early 2025, solely by a 100.5 kWh battery pack and a pair of electrical motors. (And if you happen to’re a Mopar nut however are dedicated to inner combustion, your muscle-car future means an inline-six engine, as if you happen to had been a type of guys whose complete wardrobe consists of ///M attire. Are you able to think about?) So how does Mopar’s methylized muscle-maker plan to persuade potential shoppers to purchase into such a blasphemous switcheroo?
Photograph by: InsideEVs
2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV
To get fans’ “butts-in-seats” and help with this electron baptism, Dodge is planning a complete collection of occasions within the upcoming yr, stated Matt McAlear, the model’s CEO. It should take its new EV muscle vehicles on tour within the first quarter of 2025 to coach its gross sales and dealership employees and reveal the autos’ capabilities. It’s launching a courtesy transportation program whereby it would ship EVs to sellers to make use of for short-term client check drives, or as 96-hour loaners when prospects are available in to have their automobile serviced. It should host consumer-facing “Thrill Experience” drive occasions at upcoming Mecum and Barrett-Jackson basic automotive auctions, and at its drifting/drag racing “Roadkill Nights” dwell occasions in the summertime–—prime websites for the gathering of Hemis of all vintages.
“Dodge is all the time finest as a model when it does one thing completely different,” McAlear stated, referencing the automaker’s advertising slogan from the Eighties and Nineties, Dodge Completely different. And he’s actually proper about convincing folks with precise seat time and never simply advertisements. Examine after examine signifies that after folks expertise EVs for themselves, or hear from family and friends who do, they’re much more prone to pull the set off themselves.
Plus, he stated, this EV has the bona fides. “This automobile, it is a muscle automotive first. When you take a look at the specs, the design, the potential, and take powertrain out of it, it’s a greater muscle automotive on paper than the vehicles it replaces,” he famous. “So whereas there’s a polarizing, controversial side to this—that it occurs to have an EV powertrain as one of many powertrains that’s going to energy it—nobody can argue the battery electrical know-how permits terrific efficiency, and that is what we’re bringing to market with this.”
Photograph by: InsideEVs
2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV
To enunciate this level, McAlear identified that even after Dodge introduces ICE-powered iterations of the Charger within the second half of 2025, gasoline energy will symbolize “the entry-level autos from a efficiency standpoint.” So if a possible client needs a automotive with the quickest acceleration (0-60 in 3.3 seconds) they’ll be taught that that functionality is a battery-only choice.
This powertrain rollout and hierarchy is a said a part of Dodge’s technique for muscling the muscle automotive devoted towards EVs, in keeping with McAlear. One other prong on this program is to deal with added utility and every day drivability, to create what Stellantis design chief Ralph Gilles referred to as “emotional alibis” to guide shoppers towards acceptance of this new product.
Photograph by: InsideEVs
2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV
McAlear listed a set of capabilities that may present such cowl for what quantities to a extremely irrational and emotional buy. “All-wheel-drive, as an example, helps us compete extra within the North as a every day driver,” he stated, referencing its all-weather functionality. “A hidden hatchback functionality offers you superb cargo house that you simply didn’t have in your previous automobile. The brand new Charger two-door now has extra rear-seat legroom than the outgoing four-door,” he stated. “So this turns into rather more of a every day driver than any of the muscle vehicles that we have had prior.”
Will this litany of added performance persuade Dodge die-hards, who will obtain a defeatable artificial exhaust notice that’s as boisterous as that of the outgoing automotive, however no scent of unburned gas or capacity to smoke the rear tires from a standstill?
Photograph by: InsideEVs
2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV
“Most likely not instantly out of the gate,” McAlear stated. “It should take a while. It should take them seeing one on the road. It should take them getting into for service and testing one whereas they’re getting an oil change. However I’ve seen these folks get behind the wheel and are available out with modified opinions.”
Nonetheless, convincing the devoted is probably not the best tactic for furthering this automotive’s market penetration. “Although a muscle automotive and an electrical automobile appear diametrically opposed, there is a chance for electrification to amplify the thought, advantages, and aspirational nature of the muscle automotive,” stated Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Imaginative and prescient, a Southern California automotive analysis and consulting agency. “Nonetheless, the conversion of these from the previous, I don’t consider is the most effective technique. As an alternative, a brand new era of muscle vehicles can discover success with youthful of us who suppose they like muscle vehicles.”
Because it seems, Dodge has simply such shoppers in its targets. “When you take a look at our present demographic right this moment, we’ve the youngest demographic within the mainstream auto business,” stated McAlear. “Now we have the very best share of Gen Z and Millennials. And people prospects have the very best propensity to be prepared to undertake electrification. In order that units us up.”
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2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV
Dodge may be onto one thing right here. Although muscle automotive looks as if an anachronistic class to anybody who isn’t a Boomer, analysis reveals that these autos have and preserve broader attraction. “The attention-grabbing factor with these vehicles, I feel, is that they’re much more long-lived than vehicles like tri-five [1955-57] Chevys, or different American vehicles of the period,” stated Brian Rabold, vice chairman of valuation for Hagerty, the world’s largest insurer of collectible autos. “There are much more entry factors for youthful generations to turn into all for them—by driving video video games, by motion pictures just like the Quick and Livid franchise.” As Rabold notes, pop cultural publicity conjures curiosity and need, and interprets into purchases, whether or not these be previous Polaras and Street Runners, or more moderen Fox Physique Mustangs and fourth-gen Firebirds.
Nonetheless, rumors have continued that curiosity in Dodge’s new muscular EV is much less strong than the model initially suspected and that it’s thus speeding the inline-six-powered iterations to complement this engagement. McAlear denies this categorically.
“That is what you name an city legend,” he stated. “Somebody put one factor on the Web. And if it is on the Web, it is true, proper?” He laughed, underlining his sarcasm. “We’re all the time attempting to deliver each new automobile to market as shortly as doable,” he continued. “It does not do us any good from an R&D and a capital expenditure standpoint to carry gross sales any longer than we’ve to. So nothing has modified with our timing.”
Photograph by: InsideEVs
2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV
General, as soon as each powertrains are in the marketplace, McAlear expects the combination of Charger consumers to section about evenly: half electrical, half gasoline. This aligns with Dodge’s present mixture of high-test Hemi- versus lesser-powered Challengers and Chargers. “If we glance traditionally at our V6 versus our efficiency V8, it was roughly 50/50,” McAlear stated. “So I nonetheless suppose there’s a chance, over time—as adoption continues to occur, and as infrastructure is available in throughout the U.S. by way of charging functionality—I feel there’s the power for this [EV] to beat a 50/50 combine.” (Dodge officers declined to deal with questions on demand or pre-orders, however stated they plan to stay versatile by way of manufacturing primarily based on client demand.)
If any marque is positioned to succeed with an electrical muscle automotive, it appears to be Mopar’s efficiency model. “Shoppers who personal the Charger and Challenger normally love their autos,” stated Edwards, whose agency conducts tons of of 1000’s of in-depth psychographic surveys with new automotive consumers yearly. “Even those that by no means purchase a Dodge can typically agree that Dodge is an thrilling model that has quite a bit to supply. If Dodge takes the place that they’re innovating pleasure, then this subsequent step might be a doorway for Dodge’s electrical future.” He added one additional provision. “They simply should get the messaging proper.”
Photograph by: InsideEVs
2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV
McAlear and his groups appear to be eager about this fastidiously, calibrating their messaging to entice purchasers who could also be concurrently powertrain-aware and -agnostic. “Folks purchase a muscle automotive for a lot extra than simply what powers it. They purchase it due to the way it makes them really feel. It is an extension of their persona. It places a smile on their face. They’ve enjoyable being in it. They’ve enjoyable being seen it,” he stated. “So I feel that is what this automobile does. And it opens this as much as a a lot bigger demographic and viewers.”
After spending a while within the Daytona Charger EV, just lately, I felt prefer it succeeded in charting a freshly charged path into the moribund world of muscle vehicles. So Dodge seemingly has the product proper. And it has a historical past of making memorable messaging.
We’ll see if it may well discover a magic recipe that yields outcomes from a youthful viewers open to this surprisingly compelling and venerable class.
Brett Berk is a contract automotive author primarily based in New York. He has pushed and reviewed 1000’s of vehicles for Automotive and Driver and Street & Observe, the place he’s a contributing editor. He has additionally written for Architectural Digest, Billboard, ELLE Decor, Esquire, GQ, Journey + Leisure and Vainness Truthful.
