Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis which owns Dodge, says the automaker is in the process of creating a “shocking” sound for its upcoming all-electric muscle car that will surprise even the most ardent muscle car fans.
“We are creating a sound that you cannot imagine,” Tavares told Automotive News. “It’s something that is shocking. After they create the sound, they are thinking about how they make the sound louder and more powerful in function of the way you are using the car.”
The automaker is in the midst of adapting its lineup for the upcoming electric age but doesn’t seem to be ready to say goodbye to the muscle cars, namely the Hellcat brand, that has served it so well recently. Tavares, though, cited company research signaling that consumers in their 30s are open to the idea of an electric muscle car.
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This is what Dodge’s current V8-powered muscle cars sound like
To be sure, as electric vehicles have matured, they’ve proven to be very good at driving quickly in a straight line, something that has historically been the province of muscle cars. With both Ford and GM producing high-performance electric demonstrator cars designed for the drag strip, and Tesla setting blistering quarter-mile times, in a way electric muscle cars already exist.
Dodge, though, will introduce its electric muscle car in 2024 and recent teasers suggest that its design will be inspired by the 1968 Charger. This summer, though, Dodge’s CEO Tim Kuniskis implied that the electric muscle will not kill the current generation Charger and Challenger, suggesting that the company’s big internal combustion engines could stick around a little longer.
The company will, however, first launch an electrified model this year. The plug-in hybrid vehicle is expected to be a crossover that is closely related to the Alfa Romeo Tonale. This new electrification push will also extend to the Chrysler brand, which will get its first fully electric vehicle in 2025 in the form of the Airflow.
Chrysler is one of the “emotional pillars of the former FCA,” Tavares stated. “So Chrysler will rebound. Chrysler will be relaunched.”