Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept vehicle
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DETROIT — Dodge on Wednesday unveiled a new concept car called 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 upcoming vehicle, which will replace Dodge’s current gas-powered Challenger and Charger muscle cars, is expected to look like. The car also features several new technologies that make it feel and drive like a traditional muscle car.
“We believe this car will redefine American muscle power,” said Tim Kuniskis, Dodge CEO, known for over-the-top vehicles like the brand’s 700+ horsepower Hellcat models, during a news conference.
The concept vehicle looks like a futuristic retro version of the current Dodge Challenger with a more aerodynamic but muscular design. Most notably, the front end features a large opening for air to flow through, which the company dubs the “R-Wing.”
The “R-Wing” of the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept car has a Fratzog logo in the middle.
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The vehicle’s front wing, Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust, and eRupt multi-speed transmission – names befitting Back to the Future movies – are patent-pending, the company says.
The multi-speed gearbox and exhaust in particular are unique, as electric vehicles only drive in one “gear” and apart from the necessary safety noises they are relatively quiet.
“No Science Project”
Automakers routinely use concept vehicles to gauge customer interest or to show the future direction of a vehicle or brand. The vehicles are not intended for sale to consumers.
However, Kuniskis says many of the Charger Daytona SRT’s technologies and design cues are likely to make it into a production vehicle.
“This is 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 vehicle
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Kuniskis said the electric muscle car, which will be produced in 2024, is expected to come with three different power levels, but will eventually expand to nine. The concept car features an 800-volt “Banshee” power system.
Dodge declined to release expected performance metrics for the concept car or the yet to be named production muscle car.
The upcoming electric vehicle in 2024 will replace Dodge’s gas-powered muscle cars, the Charger and Challenger, which the automaker said Monday would be phased out in late 2023.
New technology
The car’s patent-pending technologies are designed to retain the sound and drive characteristics of Dodge’s current gas-powered Charger and Challenger for all upcoming all-electric muscle cars, according to Kuniskis.
While electric vehicles can be fast with “linear acceleration” that produces amazing 0-60 mph times, they often lack the driving dynamics that many high-performance car owners enjoy. It’s a problem that auto executives have been privately trying to solve as the industry transitions to electric vehicles.
Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept vehicle
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“We said, ‘Okay, if it’s going to happen, let’s do it like Dodge,'” Kuniskis said. “We’re not going to go there and do the same thing. Dodge will get lost if we try to do the same as everyone else.”
The Concept Charger’s exhaust system, which Kuniskis said is as loud as a Hellcat engine, pushes the sound through an amplifier and tuning chamber located 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 “delivers distinctive shift points” like today’s muscle and performance cars.
According to Stephanie Brinley, principal analyst at S&P Global, the innovations could help Dodge retain its performance attributes as well as its buyers, who have bought millions of Challengers and Chargers over the years.
“It’s exactly what you would expect from a two-door Dodge EV,” she said. “It looks like the part, it sounds like the part and it’s pretty exciting.”
Heritage Notes
Officials say much of the concept vehicle was inspired by the history of Stellantis-owned Dodge. The name itself – Charger Daytona SRT – is made up of nomenclature that Dodge has frequently 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, starting in the 1960s, were two-door, like the concept.
Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept vehicle
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The “Fratzonic” exhaust is a nod to a Dodge logo used from 1962 to 1976 called “Fratzog,” a word invented by a designer. It features a split deltoid made of three arrowhead shapes forming a three-pointed star.
Kuniskis said some of the design elements and technology are expected to impact the vehicles’ electric range, but Dodge isn’t necessarily concerned about that.
“Anyway, it’s badass…it’s a muscle car,” said Kuniskis.