There are still plenty of muscle car enthusiasts out there who remain skeptical about the all-electric Dodge Charger that’s just around the corner. However, new information regarding the power options it will be available with might be enough to win them over.
When Dodge unveiled the Daytona SRT Concept last year, it indicated that nine different power levels would be offered for the car. It appears that some alterations have been made to the available Charger EV versions based on recent discussions that The Drive had with an unnamed source who claims to have insider knowledge. This source is said to be the same one that leaked information regarding the availability of the Hurricane inline-six in the next-generation Charger.
This source claims that there will be three key powertrain versions of the electric Charger on offer. The first two of these will use a 400-volt architecture and the entry-level model is tipped to be rear-wheel drive with a single electric motor rated at 402 hp or 300 kW. That’s less than the 455 hp (340 kW) that Dodge indicated twelve months ago but is still a good amount of grunt.
Read: Dodge’s Production Charger EV To Look Just Like The Handsome Concept
The Drive then claims that the mid-range variant of the Charger will add an electric motor to the front that lifts power to 670 hp (500 kW) and makes the muscle car all-wheel drive. While an AWD Charger with 670 hp sounds compelling, it probably won’t be enough to win over all Dodge fans. That’s where the flagship 800-volt version will come into play.
It is claimed that this version will have 885 hp but it is not yet known if it will have two motors or perhaps three. A quad-motor setup isn’t impossible but seems unlikely.
The Drive’s report makes no mention of the Dodge Direct Connection eStage1 and eStage2 upgrade packages that the carmaker spoke about last year. These upgrades were said to lift power for both the entry-level and mid-range models with a special crystal key. Additionally, the brand said Dodge Direct Connection upgrades would be offered for the 800-volt model, known as the SRT Banshee. Dodge said these upgrades would give the base model 495 hp with the eStage1 and 535 hp with the eStage2 kit, while the mid-range model would apparently start at 590 hp and swell to 630 hp with eStage1 and 670 hp with eStage2 upgrades.
