Stellantis called July 8^th EV Day, a day on which the future of electrification was loosely detailed for all of the company’s global brands, but for Mopar lovers, the most important news came from Dodge. Leading up to EV Day, Dodge boss Tim Kuniskis hinted that we would see some news on the future of the high performance lineup and he didn’t disappoint.

In the official Dodge EV Day video, Kuniskis talks about the success of the high performance muscle cars over the past few years, going on to emphasize that Dodge will not sell electric cars. He immediately points out that Dodge will sell American muscle and “if a charger can make a Charger quicker, we’re in”. He then goes on to talk about the fact that Dodge buyers are among the youngest in the industry, with a large number of millennials. Those younger buyers have the highest spending power of any generation and they have the highest acceptance rate of electric vehicles.

So, with Dodge having young, relatively affluent customers who are willing to get into an electric vehicle, the high performance brand is looking to go storming into the EV world. However, Dodge isn’t going to build small cars that are designed to get the most miles on a charge, instead using EV technology to build “better, faster Dodges” with “more motors”.

Roughly three and a half minutes into the video, we get to the big announcement. Kuniskis states that in 2024, Dodge will be launching the first full battery electric muscle car. He continues to talk about the goal of the brand, offering exhilarating cars that will “tear up the streets, not the planet”. While he is finishing up his talk, we get a variety of shadowy images of a concept vehicle that we believe is some variety of electric-powered, all-wheel-drive Dodge Charger.

While there is no definitive proof that the 2024 Dodge battery electric vehicle will be a Charger, there are a few hints in the video. The first, and most obvious, is Kuniskis’ comment about making a Charger quicker with a charger, referencing a battery charger. The second comes later on in the video, when he is standing over a 1968 Charger. Just before he stands at the classic muscle car, there is a graphic shown with some sharks and the silhouette of a car. That silhouette has a long roofline and a fastback design that is similar to both the current Charger and the classic in the video.

Finally, at the very end of the video, we see the concept vehicle smoking all four tires as accent lighting illuminates what appears to be the general grille shape of the 1968 Charger – complete with the triangular Dodge logo that the brand used from 1962 through 1968. Leading up to the burnout clip, we get a close, albeit very dark, look at the front and rear end of this electric concept car.

The big question now pertains to the shadowy concept car. Is this the next generation Dodge Charger, showcasing classic design cues, classic badging and an all-wheel-drive electric drivetrain or is this a classic Charger built with similar drivetrain components to what will be featured in the production car in 2024? We don’t know for now, but in hinting to an all-wheel-drive, high performance EV, it seems that Dodge is looking to challenge Tesla as the maker of the world’s quickest electric vehicles.

Now, while some of you are surely sneering at the idea of an electric muscle car, keep this in mind. With the tougher fuel economy standards under the federal CAFÉ laws, every brand needs some highly efficient vehicles to improve their overall fuel economy numbers. The CAFÉ numbers are based on the overall average fuel economy of every car sold, so all-electric and hybrid vehicles will play the biggest role in preserving the future of the Hemi-powered muscle car.

If you love cars like the Hellcat Challenger and Charger, you should root for other people to buy hybrid and electric Dodge products, as they will make it possible for the company to continue offering gas-powered vehicles as we head into an EV-heavy future.