In spite of what might seem like incentives to do elsewise, Dodge has pledged to continue doing Dodge stuff for the foreseeable future— to the point of hiring a Chief Donut Maker. But the “Brotherhood of Muscle” bravado presents a positive spin on a massive transition that will make or break the brand’s future. Dodge needs to go electric. The Hemi V8s are departing after 2023, and an all-electric muscle car is due to arrive in 2024. Now, we may have gotten a preview of what that will look like — albert from another Stellantis branch.
You probably have not heard of DS — the luxury and performance arm of French brand Citroën, which is going all-electric in 2024. But the brand just unveiled a new prototype, the DS E-Tense Performance. It uses a dual-motor AWD system putting out a massive 815 horsepower, and DS says it has a 0-62 mph time in the two-second range.
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DS intends the E-Tense Performance prototype to be an engineering exercise that accelerates road car development. Though one suspects features like a full carbon-fiber monocoque and a full regenerative-braking system that only keeps physical brake pads and discs for safety reasons may be far off from production.
Could whatever DS is working on end up being part of Dodge eMuscle as well? It would make a lot of sense.
After all, the point of a massive automotive conglomerate like the newly-formed Stellantis is to share platforms and development to cut costs — particularly with EVs. We know Dodge’s EV muscle car will probably need to replicate Hellcat power output to be taken seriously. It will probably use multiple electric motors with all-wheel-drive to do that. Sharing much of the componentry — even if that’s not a fact the incoming Chief Donut Maker would play up — would be more sensible than developing distinct powertrains and platforms, especially since Stellantis restructured the SRT division.
Dodge should give us a better idea of what is going on with the new EV muscle car soon. The concept car version should debut later this year.