Dodge CEO Says New eMuscle Car Should Come Around August!

Dodge//SRT CEO, Tim Kuniskis, recently sat down with Muscle Cars & Trucks (MC&T) to discuss the future of the American high-performance brand. In that interview, Kuniskis talked about the brand’s upcoming concept for its all-new eMuscle car, scheduled to make its official production debut for the 2024 model year.

The Dodge boss has talked on several occasions about showing off a conceptual version of what we are being told is the next-generation Challenger (LB). Originally scheduled to make an official appearance before the end of Q1 2022, Kuniskis mentioned that he wasn’t going to show off the car until some patents were approved by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). The executive said Dodge plans to “do electrification different than everybody else.” “That’s why I’m waiting until I have all my patents done,” Kuniskis noted at that time.

In his most recent interview with MC&T, Kuniskis stated that he wants to unveil the new eMuscle car before the week leading up to the Woodward Dream Cruise. Dodge has used the week leading up to the event to unveil several products before, including the 707 horsepower 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, 2017 Dodge Charger Daytona, and 2017 Dodge Challenger T/A. The Woodward Dream Cruise will be held on Saturday, August 20th this year.

But there is one detail that could still keep Dodge from unveiling the in August. “It will be sooner rather than later. My hope is that you’ll see this car well before we get to that Speed Week, so well before we get to August is my hope,” Kuniskis told MC&T. “There’s one really important piece that goes with [the reveal] that’s outside of my control, and it’s outside our industry quite frankly, that I want the two to be together when I show you this car. And I don’t want to do it disjointed,” Kuniskis mentioned. 

Could it be one of those patents discussed earlier? We don’t know. Kuniskis didn’t elaborate on the reason.

Our sources have stated that the new battery-electric Dodge Challenger BEV, could share a lot of its powertrain setup with the upcoming GranTurismo Folgore. The GranTurismo Folgore has been said to offer more than 1,200 horsepower (895 kW) from three individual motors. This means the car would feature all-wheel drive (AWD), something that was shown in the teaser video during the EV Day 2021 presentation (shown above).

With the 2022 Tesla Model S Plaid being the current benchmark in terms of performance for the electric car segment at the moment, we have no doubt that Dodge is focused on taking down Tesla. With a tri e-motor setup, the Challenger BEV should have no problem reaching 60 mph from a dead stop in around 2-seconds.

Kuniskis also explained in recent interviews, that the all-new electrified models coming to the Dodge lineup will feature the classic “Fratzog” logo to help differentiate them from the standard internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Those ICE models will continue to carry the current Dodge “rhombi” logo on their flanks.

We are eagerly waiting for August, to see the conceptual version of the next-generation Dodge Challenger.