Dodge shows “Banshee” electric Charger concept – an EV with exhaust?

Dodge has released photos of its Dodge Charger Daytona SRT “Banshee” Concept, a fully electric version of the iconic American muscle car.

Dodge has been teasing the potential for a fully electric muscle car for some time. We first heard about it last year, when Dodge claimed it would launch the “world’s first battery electric muscle car” in 2024. And later that year, Dodge also set a 2024 end date for gas-powered Chargers and Challengers (a story which some sites have reported again this week).

Now we’re seeing the next car it might induct into the “Brotherhood of Muscle”: an electric Charger. And boy howdy, it sure does look hot.

The “Banshee” electric Dodge Charger concept is a fully electric, American muscle car – no hybrid, no engine, just battery.

Dodge’s press release is a little light on the details, without much info about specs. The only real performance spec we have is that the concept will be powered by Dodge’s 800V electric all-wheel drive propulsion system, named Banshee. Dodge wants this Banshee branding to evoke the same level of performance as its other high-horsepower brands, like Hemi, Hellcat and Redeye.

The electric Charger concept comes with three headline design features:

• R-Wing: intended to increase aerodynamic efficiency while maintaining the Charger’s characteristic bulky front-end.
• eRupt transmission: a multi-speed electro-mechanical transmission intended to deliver distinct shift-points, rather than smooth transitions from one gear to the next, giving the same “jerking” feeling of gear shifts in a gas car – and a “push-to-pass” button for a quick boost of power.
• Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust: an exhaust system… on an electric car. Huh?

That’s right, the electric Dodge Charger includes an exhaust system. Or at least, Dodge is calling it an exhaust system – there’s nothing to exhaust, rather just some speakers that sound like exhaust. “Fratzonic” is a reference to “Fratzog,” the name of an old three-pronged Dodge logo from the 60s and 70s.

Listen here:

The Fratzonic exhaust can produce up to 126dB of sound, equivalent sound levels to the Dodge Hellcat – and above the 120dB threshold that can cause immediate damage to unprotected ears (sigh).

The interior… looks reasonably normal as far as concept car interiors go. That said, this is the part where concepts usually change the most, so we wouldn’t put a lot of stock into it, but you’ve got the now-standard large center screen, lightweight seats, and a panoramic glass roof, which is a novel feature for a Charger.

Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis says the electrified charger “exists because performance made us do it” – a reference to Dodge’s new marketing slogan. He claims that the Banshee-powered electric Dodge Charger will “run a blazing quarter-mile,” though didn’t specify just how fast that quarter-mile would…