Dodge Says It Won’t Make Electric Cars, It Will Make eMuscle, Which Is Somehow Different, but Not Really
When we think about American muscle cars, Dodge comes immediately to mind. From the iconic 1968 Dodge Dart to the diabolical 2018 Dodge Demon to the screaming 2021 Hellcat Redeye, no one does American muscle like Dodge! That will continue with Dodge eMuscle.
American culture is changing. The demand for EV models is growing, particularly in California, where Governor Gavin Newsom has pledged that all new consumer vehicles sold in the state will be electric by 2035, according to Edmunds. Now, Dodge has announced the world’s first electric muscle car. However, Dodge isn’t calling it an electric car. Dodge has dubbed it “eMuscle,” and the pitch is that eMuscle will “Tear up the streets, not the planet.”
Dodge answers the call for electric vehicles (EVs).
Per Car and Driver, the new EV will be on the market by 2024. This gives them plenty of time to work out marketing kinks before the 2035 California deadline. After all, according to the California Auto Outlook, Californians buy about two million new vehicles annually, and more than 30 million vehicles are registered there in an average year. It would be an expensive mistake for Dodge to disregard the California market.
Is Dodge eMuscle different from other electric cars?
Even though Dodge doesn’t want to call this muscle car an electric vehicle, the technology is the same, so there’s really no discernable difference outside of branding. We’re not sure why they believe the name will attract a classic muscle car enthusiast, but they’re not fooling anybody. We can imagine that millennials, green-minded individuals, and the next generation of California drag racers will be attracted to the name, however.
Dodge will employ one of Stellantis’ dedicated electric vehicle platforms for its design, capable of a range of 500 miles on a fully charged battery. This is at the top end of the range of Stellantis’ current platforms, which start at 300 miles of range on a charge. In the future, we can expect more variety, more speed, and more range from Stellantis EV models.
Additionally, Dodge claims that the eMuscle model their fastest muscle car yet. However, we’ll have to see if it’s fast enough to take on other EV offerings, such as those from Tesla. As we’ve seen over the past few years, such as with the Volkswagen ID. R, electric vehicles can be very fast.
Will Dodge eMuscle look like a Challenger, a Charger, or something else?
The prototype Dodge is teasing to the public is based on a Challenger body, but Dodge says they’ll be adding some futuristic notes to the design. We already notice a new logo on the grill in the official YouTube video published by Dodge. However, the logo isn’t new. As reported by Motor Trend, this fratzog logo is a slightly menacing rebirth of Chrysler’s 1950s space-age logo.
As for the eMuscle’s final design, Dodge has a history of mixing body styles with motors. For instance, consider the Scat Pack available in both Chargers and Challengers. Therefore, we can imagine the new eMuscle might be available in both a two-door and four-door body.
