For the last decade, Dodge has been the heart of lunacy for at least the American automotive industry and possibly the global automotive industry as they have been consistently building cars that every other manufacturer point blank refuses to build. Granted that is not without good reason, Dodge will be making classic muscle cars until 2023. By classic muscle cars, I mean large, heavy, not that well-made, and relatively cheap when you consider they have so much power that they can barely handle themselves around a corner. While they are objectively not the best cars on sale they were a hell of a good time. But what's coming next?

The end of the true muscle car

With an announcement on August 15, 2022, Dodge confirmed everyone's suspicions that the Charger and Challenger did not have much time left. They, along with the Hellcat V-8 and other variations of the HEMI V-8, will no longer be on sale. This marks the end of the last true American Muscle cars, and Dodge's use of that ancient Mercedes architecture.

(Mustangs and Camaros are too lightweight and handle too good to be muscle cars in the classic sense of the phrase, that's why they get the title of pony cars.)

Dodge is having them go out with a bang with several limited editions, including a convertible and a revised Durango Hellcat. But, with the loss of these properly ridiculous models, what does Dodge have left?

Their current models consist of the Charger, Challenger, and Durango, two of which will die within the next year. That only leaves the V-6 Durango and the future crossover, the Hornet, (at least at the time of writing) neither of which strike us as especially fascinating. There are also the RAM trucks, but that is all but its own brand nowadays.

So, what is Dodge going to do?

One thing we know they will not do is lose their signature attitude and revert to how they were in the early 2000s. Going back to making cars better left forgotten like the Nitro and Caliber and whatnot would be business suicide. Dodge's zero-F's-given personality is part of what made the Charger and Challenger so successful, regardless of the time period.

We also know the lunatics from Detroit will launch an EV by 2025 and it will probably be an electric muscle car, possibly called the Dodge eMuscle. Expect the styling to be reminiscent of the soon-to-be-dead Challenger, or Charger if there is a sedan variant.

In terms of the muscle itself, judging from the teasers we have already seen, it will have a four-wheel-drive system with multiple electric motors. It may also be the most powerful factory Dodge ever, possibly up to 900 horsepower in the top trim and costing 'as little' as $45,000-$50,000 for the base model.

Of course, it will keep its muscle car personality and will almost certainly be much more impressive in a straight line than in any corner.

However, we expect it to debut much sooner than 2025 as Dodge only has the Hornet and Durango to fall back on in terms of sales at the time of writing. Plus, with Monterey Car Week and Dodge Speed Week currently going on, this would be a perfect time to drop something big.

Even with the debut of the electric muscle car looming, Dodge is still putting all its performance eggs in one electric basket and the future of its EV plans hinges on the success of this upcoming model.