A Closer Look at the Mysterious Dodge Electric Vehicle

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.

Dodge BEV 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.

Dodge BEV Muscle Car

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.

Dodge BEV Muscle Car

Dodge BEV Muscle Car

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.

Dodge BEV Muscle Car

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.

Dodge BEV Muscle Car

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.

Dodge BEV Muscle Car

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.

2015 Hellcat Charger

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.

Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye

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.

Dodge BEV Muscle Car

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.

Dodge BEV Muscle Car

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?

Dodge BEV Muscle Car

Dodge BEV Muscle Car

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.

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