Yesterday, Tim Kuniskis rocked the automotive world by announcing that in 2024, the Dodge brand will introduce the world’s first battery electric vehicle. A key message of the video was that with the introduction of an all-electric “eMuscle” car, the Dodge brand will continue to offer exhilarating, fun-to-drive cars. Unlike other brands which offer boring electric crossovers and vanilla hybrid sedans, Dodge will introduce the world to the road-going electric muscle car.
No real information was provided, but Kuniskis did make a comment about a “charger making a Charger quicker”, which would seemingly point to Dodge creating an electric version of their top-selling sedan. There were also several shadowy images of a mysterious car sporting the classic Dodge Fratzog logo and at the end of the video, this unknown vehicle does a smoky, all-wheel-drive burnout. There is no engine noise, so when combined with the focus of the video, it is expected that the car in action is the battery electric Dodge.
Mysterious Black Dodge EV
While the fact that it is silently smoking all four tires is important, this unknown Dodge car seemingly has a grille that is a similar shape to that of the 1968 Dodge Charger shown earlier in the video. From the front angle images earlier in the video, this black, AWD EV seems to have a very flat front end, with sculpting that is unique from any Dodge cars, past or present.
Also, when we get a shot of the rear end, this mysterious Dodge seems to have a more rounded back end that travels inward from the red Fratzog. That is unlike anything in the current lineup and it is obviously unlike anything from the classic Charger.
Perhaps it is just the camera angle, but the shadowy EV doing a smoky, four-wheel burnout does not “fit” with the styling of any current or past Dodge model – leading us to believe that this is our first look at an all-new car. Perhaps it is the next generation Dodge Charger, which makes sense when we look at the red car under the cover behind Tim Kuniskis throughout much of the video.
Red Car Under the Cover
Early in the video, Kuniskis is shown lifting the passenger’s side front corner of a cover that is concealing the vehicle nearest to him throughout the video. With the progression of vehicles behind him, it would seemingly serve as a timeline of great vehicles in Dodge history, with the Durango Hellcat and the Charger Redeye being the most recent. If this is an accurate guess as to what is going on, then it would make sense that the car under the cover is the next big step for the Dodge brand.
Now, when this video first went live and I focused solely on the black car later in the video, I passed this car off as a modern Charger, parked with a cover over it as a placekeeper. However, when I took a closer look, something wasn’t quite right. All we can really see is a lower front fascia vent and a small portion of the large central opening in the fascia, but these small bits are significant. The outer vent is as tall or taller than the large central opening, but the outer vent appears to be very narrow.
When compared to the current Charger widebody or the 2015 Hellcat Charger, this vent doesn’t match either model. The outer vent of the earlier Hellcat Charger was significantly smaller than the central grille opening and in the newer Hellcat Charger widebody models, the vent is as tall as that grille opening, but the outer vent is much wider. Also, the area where the central grille meets this outer vent is more rounded than it is on the current Charger. In short, whatever is under the cover has a front fascia that is unlike any of the current Charger models.
Also, later on in the video, we see the covered car in the background a few times. If you take a good look at the car under the cover from a head-on shot, the “greenhouse” portion of the exterior, including the roof and windows, seems to extend out more dramatically than does the Charger a few cars over. We have include a shot of the covered car from the front below for reference. Take note of how “flat” the sides are in the head-on shot of the uncovered Charger on the right compared to the flared shape of the car under the cover.
Another interesting point is how the cover clings to the front end of the mystery car. If you look at the front fascia of the current Charger lineup, the center of the fascia is extended out well beyond the leading edge of the hood, but even though there is something pulling the cover tight to the driver’s side front corner, the front edge of the hood (or a portion of the front fascia in front of the hood) appears to extend out much more sharply than the current design.
In short, the red car under the cover appears to have a unique fascia and a different greenhouse shape than the current Charger, suggesting that this could be our first look at the next generation sedan. The big question is whether or not the car under the cover is the same car that is depicted doing the silent, all-wheel-drive burnout at the end of the video. If it is, it looks as though the next Charger is getting a high tech drivetrain with even more classic design cues.
So, is the car under the cover the same car as the one doing the burnout, or are we looking at two different cars?
Tim Kuniskis did state that there could be something interesting from the Dodge brand at SEMA, so could it be an upcoming production Charger, similar to the red car under the cover, or will it be some outrageous classic car with a modern production-intent electric drivetrain? If we are seeing the same car in two different settings, then it seems that Dodge will bring back the Fratzog logo from the 1960s, but more importantly, the next gen Charger could be a true rival to the Tesla Model S.
In the meantime, if you haven’t seen the Dodge EV Day video, you can check that out below.
A number of years ago, Dodge came out with a design of a Charger reminiscent To the ’69 – ’70’s Charger. I’ve read rumors that it was revieled at a dealer meeting, but nothing more really materialized on the car. Could it be that car, or at least based of of it? I also had a fleeting thought of he long sot after “Cuda”, but I doubt it what we are seeing. Or is it?
I dont think it is the 68-70 Charger designbat all, I believe its the 65-67 Charger due to the Frotzog placement and color. Look up a 66 dodge charger and look at its similarity to the 68-70 and placement and color of the fratzogs used on it. Its not identical to the 68-70 but the same basic principle of a larger fastback car is not out of the question. Why not start the 1st gen electric Charger with the original 1st gen Charger?
In the video yes could be a fake but the video shows an awd burnout too. The lines of the car also seem to be really smooth flowing like the viper or similar to the Pontiac solstice 2 door car. Whatever it is if a concept car doesn’t come to mind from the past they are outside the box again keeping us wondering.
I guess they are making a Hybrid and hyping up things for the fool journalists like you
New ‘Cuda
The car in the video is anything but silent. It’s actually fairly noisy and not just for an electric car. it’s noisy. While I do believe that there will be an all-electric version replacing the Hellcat and Redeye level cars, I also feel like there are going to be two hybrid versions of the ICE versions as well, all built on the new STLA-Large platform. the first is going to be a 2.0L 4XE version possibly pushing 375hp/470lb-ft of torque like the Jeep 4XE as probably what will be the next Charger GT which will probably be the base car. Above that will more than likely be a 3.0L Standard Output R/T version with the 420hp/450tq with the High Output 3.0L “Daytona 500” pushing 507hp/480tq and a Super Bee Hybrid version of the 3.0L HO pushing in the 630hp range while an Electric Hellcat version gets a dual motor 840hp AWD setup and a Redeye will get an eye-popping tesla killing 1300hp triple motor setup or something insane. As for the car in the video, there are some key elements to this vehicle that I’d like to share besides just the insane sound and obvious AWD. The Red Fratzog logo, is in fact, part of the spoiler. it’s part of the spoiler’s center post and no the spoiler is not mechanical, it doesn’t move, that the lighting. This is shown in some of the slides from the EV summit. the car also showcases modernized wheel designs that may end up on the next gen cars. The car also has a louvered hood like what would be on a 71 Charger. As far as the red car under the car cover that Kuniskis is standing next to. the car truly takes the coke bottle shape of the ’68-’70 Charger but with a modernized front end that actually looks a bit more like the evolutionary step that the Hornet CUV has taken, although feel like the Grille/headlight setup will evolve the Hellcat’s Iconic ’71 GTX inspired styling slightly and the racetrack taillamp will possibly evolve to more of the ’71 style three-section sequential setup, (as i feel the challenger will go to the quad taillamp setup of the ’72-’74 Challenger), The ’71 style would actually go more with the new Dodge language as the Hornet has two, 3-section taillamps. The Car under the covers definitely fits the statement that the next-gen charger will rely heavily on the ’99 Concept design as it takes alot of it’s styling from the 68-70 Charger, giving the next-gen car a truly 4-door coupe body. I feel like the interior of the new Charger is going to evolve into a bit more of the design from the new Durango with more modern touches such as the digital instrument cluster and more premium materials and improved Tech, possibly even rivalling the Ram TRX. I also made mention that I feel that Direct Connection is really going to take this new car back to raw, undiluted performance options not really seen since the SRT4 Neon. This next Charger is truly going to be a Dodge!