Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept car
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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, slated for 2024.
The two-door coupe is a first look at what the car is coming, which will replace Dodge’s current petrol car Challenger and Charger muscle cars, is expected to look like. The car also has some new technology to give it the feel and ride of a traditional muscle car.
“We believe this car will redefine American muscle,” said Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis, who is known for his superior vehicles as the brand. 700 hp Hellcat modelsaid in a media conference.
The concept car looks like a futuristic, but classic, version of Current Dodge Challenger with aerodynamic design but more muscular. Most notably, the front end has a large opening for air to pass through, which the company calls the “R-Wing”.
The “R wing” of the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept car has the Fratzog logo in the middle.
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The front spoiler as well as the car’s “Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust” and “eRupt” multi-speed powertrains – names suitable for the movie “Back to the Future” – are patent pending, according to the company.
The multi-speed powertrain and exhaust are particularly unique, as electric vehicles are driven by only one “gearbox” and are relatively silent besides the necessary safety noises.
‘Not a science project’
Automakers often use concept cars to gauge customer interest or indicate the future direction of a vehicle or brand. These cars are not for sale to consumers.
However, Kuniskis says many of the technologies and design elements of the Charger Daytona SRT are expected to become 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 car
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Kuniskis says the 2024 production muscle car is expected to launch with three different performance levels but will eventually expand to nine. The concept car features an 800-volt “Banshee” propulsion system.
Dodge declined to release expected performance metrics for the concept car or the unnamed production muscle car.
The upcoming EV in 2024 will replace Dodge’s gas-powered Charger and Challenger muscle cars, which the automaker said Monday will be production ceased at the end of 2023.
New technology
According to Kuniskis, the vehicle’s patent-pending technologies aim to retain the sound and driving characteristics of Dodge’s current Charger and Gas-powered Challenger for any upcoming electric muscle car models. eyes, according to Kuniskis.
Although EV can be fast with “linear acceleration” that produces incredible 0-60 mph times, they often lack the driving dynamics that many performance car owners enjoy. It’s a problem auto executives have been trying to tackle personally as the industry transitions to electric vehicles.
Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept car
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“We were like, ‘OK, if it happens, do like Dodge,'” said Kuniskis. “We’re not going to go there and do the same thing. Dodge will get lost if we try to do the same thing as everyone else.”
The exhaust system on the Charger concept, which Kuniskis says is as large as the Hellcat engine, pushes the sound through an amplifier and tuning chamber located at the rear of the car. He compared it to a wind organ with chambers and pipes.
The eRupt technology, he says, is a multi-speed transmission “with electromechanical gearshifts” that “gives the exceptional shifting points” like today’s performance and muscle cars.
According to Stephanie Brinley, principal analyst at S&P Global, these improvements can help Dodge retain its operating character as well as its buyers, who have purchased millions of Challengers and Chargers over the years.
“It’s exactly what you’d expect a two-door Dodge EV to do,” she said. “It looks part, it sounds part and it’s quite exciting.”
Heritage sign
Most of the concept cars are inspired by Stellantis– Dodge’s history of ownership, according to officials. The name itself – Charger Daytona SRT – is made up of the nomenclature that Dodge often uses.
The “R-Wing” is inspired by the “cone” front end of the 1969-1970 Daytona charger. And while today’s Charger is a four-door vehicle, early generations starting in the 1960s were two-door, like the concept.
Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept car
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The “Fratzonic” exhaust associated with the logo Dodge used between 1962 and 1976 is called “Fratzog” – a word coined by a designer. It has a split deltoid made up of three arrowhead shapes forming a three-pointed star.
Kuniskis says a number of design and technology elements are expected to affect the car’s electric range, but that’s not something Dodge is necessarily worried about.
“Never mind; it’s a muscle car … it’s a muscle car,” says Kuniskis.
