Dodge: Bye V8, next-gen Charger & Challenger will be EVs

Muscle cars are usually defined by what's underneath their large hoods. If European supercars usually have high-revving screamer engines, muscle cars have big and throaty-sounding V8s. So what happens if you take the aural character away?

Well, we'll know once the next-generation Dodge Challenger and Charger arrive. Contrary to previous reports of the two cars bowing out at the end of the model cycle, apparently, they'll be here to stay but will become rather different from what we're used to.

Sad as it may be, a report has confirmed the rumor that new models will not only lose their Hemi V8s, but will also undergo a complete propulsion change – the Challenger, and the Charger, as we know them, will soon become high-performance battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

The Dodge muscle cars will have a new platform that's EV exclusive, unlike the modified Chrysler LX platform currently used by the Challenger and Charger which has been around since 2005. Dodge hasn't said anything about the final years of the two muscle cars, but they have been teasing a two-door electric muscle car since last year that's a likely successor to the current Challenger.

While it's good that the Challenger and Charger will live on, it remains to be seen if muscle car fans would be delighted, or give Dodge a deafening silence with their bold move. With that said, the ICE Challenger is bound to go out with a bang with the E85-fed 900 HP Hellcat Finale before electrification takes over.

Will the Challenger and Charger still have the same appeal once it becomes electric? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Motor1