Dodge ditches 2 gas-powered muscle cars as it races to catch up with EV competition
Hitting the gas on electrics… Dodge says it's retiring both the Challenger and the Charger — two iconic muscle cars born in the ’60s — in the coming year. The fresh hotness: Dodge's first electrified vehicle, the Hornet R/T. The plug-in hybrid crossover should hit the streets in the spring, and the dual announcements — out with the gas-guzzling old, in with the EV new — show just how much Dodge is counting on EVs to carry its brand as it looks to leave purely gas-powered cars in the dust:
- Rearview mirror: Dodge sold 54K Challengers in the US last year, making it the country’s best-selling muscle car.
- Road ahead: The Hornet starts at $40K and can travel up to 30 miles per charge before a gas engine kicks in.
The EV race… is fully underway. 10 automakers have already pledged to go EV-only, and Dodge's parent company, Stellantis, says it’ll spend $35B+ on electrification by 2026. It's not alone: experts predict 54M global EV sales in 2040 — from 7M last year. Auto giants like Stellantis are moving, but they'll need to step on it if they're going to catch up: 70% of all EVs registered in the US last year were Teslas.
If you're slow off the blocks… brand loyalty can give you a boost. Dodge is trailing rivals in its shift to electric — Ford sold 27K+ Mustang Mach-Es last year alone — but it’s counting on brand fans to help it succeed over the long haul. One possibility: a future Challenger EV. Plus, Dodge says it has something extra under the hood: the youngest fan-base in the biz. It’ll need all those components if it's going to shift its muscle-car-loving customers to EVs.