After years of riding the carefree high of huge gas-powered engines, the self-proclaimed “brotherhood of muscle” is having an emissions-induced reckoning.
Whether its fans and benefactors like it or not, Dodge needs a new way to raise hell — one that doesn’t include snarling supercharged engines that spew harmful emissions into the atmosphere. Ah, but not all of its lineage has to be lost in the transition to an electrified era, with plenty of room for the sort of vehicular vulgarities the brand has become known for.
The 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona puts an all-electric twist on that performance pedigree, and the results are exceptionally unique. Unlike Ford’s Mustang-badged electric vehicle (EV) that happens to be a crossover — for better or worse — this is the first emissions-free muscle car to hit the market. But it also happens to be so much more than that.
A Challenging Transition
While a number of automakers are struggling with the switch to electrification, it’s cause for an all-out identity crisis for Dodge. After all, this is a brand built on gas-powered muscle — and plenty of it. It’s not just huge displacement, either; a long line of V8s has been joined by hellacious superchargers shoehorned under the hoods of various Dodge-branded models for a decade now, drawing the ire of environmentalists everywhere in the process.
Those factors alone have stacked the deck against Dodge, which now looks like a victim of its own market positioning. Making matters worse are the headwinds bearing down on electrification at large, with public sentiment shifting to something far less than favourable over the last year or so in particular. (Even Volvo has scaled back its planned switch to an entirely electric lineup based on decreased demand around the world.)
Add it all up and the timing of the Charger Daytona is rough — and that’s putting it mildly. Then there’s the EV-based rebranding underway at Dodge, where an obscure logo from its past has been resurrected for use on this car, which is really a successor to the two-door Challenger, albeit with a much more appropriate name given the way it’s powered. It’s a lot to unpack.
Even so, there’s been plenty of eager anticipation for the Charger Daytona since it was first teased more than four years ago, including right here at AutoTrader. And if ever there was a brand that could build a suitably sinister EV it’s the one that made a car called the Demon. That doesn’t mean the path to an emissions-free future is a sure thing for Dodge; far from it. But it means the dog in this fight is a breed all its own.
From Sordid to Sorted
Whether the two-door Challenger that’s this car’s true predecessor or its namesake sedan, the last flavour of Dodge performance was spicy like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos: a steady stream of heat, but not much dimension otherwise. In fairness, both managed to extract an awful lot of enjoyment from that narrow focus, but there’s only so much sameness anyone can stomach before it gets sickening.
While the widebody versions that came later in their life cycles made both cars more agreeable on a race track or winding road, for nearly two decades Dodge made machines almost exclusively for 400-metre sprints. Even the 5.7L-powered versions of old could wiggle and waggle their way to fairly impressive trap speeds at the drag strip but looked a little lost bearing down on anything beyond a sweeping bend.
In the case of the all-electric Charger Daytona, its fundamentals set it up for success beyond a straight line. For starters there’s the impossibly low centre of gravity created by its massive 100.5-kWh battery pack and twin electric motors. That last point is important because it means this EV has all-wheel drive, although it’s reasonable to assume a rear-wheel-drive example will follow at some point in the future as the lineup expands beyond the two trims offered at launch.
Beyond those basics, the track both front and rear — that’s the distance between the centre of each wheel — is wider even than the widebody version of the gas-powered Challenger. At more than 1,700 mm (66.9 in), all that space between the tires makes the Charger Daytona feel firmly planted on the pavement below. So do the tires themselves, with the optional rubber measuring a massive 325 mm (12.8 in) in the back.
A New Kind of Muscle
Both the R/T and Scat Pack versions available at launch share a 400-volt electric architecture, with the former using its motors to make 456 hp and 404 lb-ft of torque. If that’s not enough, the more stout Scat Pack has been tuned to generate 630 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque. Meanwhile, a so-called PowerShot system that works like overboost adds an extra 40 hp to both in button-selectable 10-second bursts.
If the old SRT-tuned Challenger was a muscle-bound brute, the Charger Daytona is the automotive equivalent of a four-wheeled powerlifter with the grace of a ballet dancer. OK, maybe it’s more like a former ballet dancer who hasn’t strapped on the slippers in a while, but the point stands. Considering the mass being moved here — nearly 2,650 kg (5,842 lb) in all — and the fact it’s a massive muscle car and not a slithering little sports car, this EV is exceptionally nimble.
On a short 1.1-km road course at Arizona’s Radford Racing School (formerly known as the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving), the Charger Daytona Scat Pack tackled the nine turns of varying types with an agility more akin to a sports car like the Nissan Z. Sure, it’s big and heavy, but it doesn’t feel like it from behind the wheel — an impressive feat of engineering for any car, electric or otherwise.
While the steering isn’t especially well weighted, a long-standing trouble spot for EVs at large, and the regenerative braking lacks the same sort of aggressiveness as the system in the hotted up Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, this car’s leverageable assets — wide track, low centre of gravity, and four-wheel traction — make it multifaceted in ways its predecessors were never capable of. While it manages the tire-smoking buffoonery of the cars that came before it just fine, this Dodge also holds its own on the track.
Pricing and Packaging
Outside of playtime the Charger Daytona is mellow and mild mannered, quietly and smoothly cruising around like a far less fearsome EV. That goes for both the R/T trim that starts at a rather reasonable $57,690 before tax (but including a non-negotiable $2,695 freight fee), as well as the $89,690 Scat Pack version. Both of them come with a 100.5-kWh battery, with the R/T version good for about 496 km on a full charge. (The Scat Pack is good for an estimated 388 km, while the optional Track Pack cuts 40 km from that outlook).
On that note, opting for the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T comes with stuff like wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, subscription-based satellite radio, a 12.3-inch touchscreen, dual-zone automatic climate control, a heated steering wheel, and heated front seats all come standard. Then there’s the full suite of advanced driver-assistance and safety features, including forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning and keeping assistance, and adaptive cruise control that works in stop-and-go traffic.
Final Thoughts
It wouldn’t be right to say Dodge was dragged kicking and screaming towards electrification, although it wouldn’t be entirely unfair to assume giving up on oversized gas engines wasn’t the brand’s first choice, either. Successive — and successful — years of giving environmental regulators the proverbial middle finger has a way of breeding an apprehension about evolution, especially when market acceptance for such shenanigans remains so strong.
In spite of that reluctance to move away from its preferred power source, it’s nothing if not nice to see the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona arrive as something more than a compliance car. Dodge could’ve delivered a half-baked EV and called it a day, but it didn’t. Instead, it made a next-generation muscle car that happens to handle like a sports car. The rest of the time it’s an easy-driving car that’s as at home on the open road as it is the race track — or even the drag strip.
The future of this brand remains as muddled as ever, as is whatever’s next for electrification at large. But the Charger Daytona is proof Dodge isn’t ready to go down without a fight.
