Dodge muscle cars live on with new versions of the Charger powered by electricity or gasoline

abcnews.go.com:

America’s muscle car culture is adapting to the new world of electric vehicles, but the gasoline-powered high-performance road beasts will be around for at least a few more years

DETROIT — America’s muscle car culture is adapting to the new world of electric vehicles, but the gasoline-powered high-performance road beasts will be around for at least a few more years.

Dodge on Tuesday unveiled two battery-powered versions of the Charger muscle car that will still roar like a big V8 engine without pollution from the tailpipe.

However, the Stellantis brand, which has carved out a market niche of selling high-performance vehicles, will keep selling a gas-powered Charger as well, sans the big Hemi V8.

Both will be built on Stellantis' global large vehicle underpinnings, and the Windsor, Ontario, factory that will manufacture them will be able to flex between gasoline and electric depending on consumer demand. The flexibility will let Stellantis hedge its bets if electric vehicle sales take off or slow.

Last year Stellantis stopped making the gas powered Chargers and Challengers, and many thought that would be the beginning of the end for the thundering sedans.

But Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis said there were hints that a gas version would live on. “It was always there. It was always in the plan. It was always coming,” he said.

The company, however, downplayed the gas version as it showed off two-door and four-door electric models that look a little like Chargers of the 1960s with aerodynamic lines and hatchbacks instead of trunks.

The electric versions, named Charger Daytona after the NASCAR raceway in Florida, will come with two powertrains, one delivering up to 670 horsepower with the ability to go from zero to 60 miles per hour