The 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona Is An Electric Car For People Who Hate Electric Cars

What is a muscle car? Merriam-Webster defines it as “any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving,” but given that the industry’s preferred method of propulsion is changing, can the muscle car change with it? The 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona is determined to find out, because not only is it a big, quick American coupe, it’s also powered by batteries.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona. Previewed by a concept car that made the rounds in 2022 and teased rather liberally early this year, we’ve had plenty of time to prepare for Dodge to dish the details on its make-or-break next-generation Windsor-built family car, and the first two trim levels are finally here.

Back up a second, Windsor? The one across the border from Detroit? The minivan plant? Yes, but this isn’t the first time Windsor’s ever built Chargers. From 1975 to 1978, Dodge’s B-body coupe was bolted together in the Windsor Assembly Plant, making this 2024 car something of a homecoming.

The Charger, Recharged

Dodge has a rich history of trim names, and it’s chosen the Daytona banner to use for all electric Charger variants, with the R/T and Scat Pack trims being the first to arrive (so the full names are “Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack” and “Dodge Charger Daytona R/T”). Both of these initial models feature a 400-volt architecture, so the peak DC fast charging rate taps out at 183 kW. With 93.9 kWh of usable battery pack capacity (100.5 total), you’re going to be waiting just over 52 minutes to charge from 5 to 80 percent once you run down the estimated range of 317 miles on the R/T and 260 miles on the Scat Pack.

Speaking of batteries, we’re looking at a 104S2P pack, meaning two parallel sets of 104 cells arranged in series, that uses prismatic cells. Dodge claims a litany of benefits from going prismatic over cylindrical or pouch cells. As per the automaker:

The battery cell structure is prismatic, offering a more structurally stable cell with better thermal performance through a rigid casing, resulting in lower battery temperatures during high performance driving. The nickel cobalt aluminum chemistry of the battery cell provides more power per gram — the battery-electric version of high-octane fuel.

Nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA) cells are desirable for their power density, often at or above 200 watt-hours per kilogram. They might not be as resilient as lithium iron phosphate cells, but they pack one hell of a punch, which is why companies like Dodge and Tesla use them in EVs. By the way, Dodge claims that the pack in the Charger Daytona offers “a peak discharge rate of 550 kW — specifically designed to maximize acceleration by allowing the motor to utilize the most power the battery can output in the span of a quarter mile.” Nice.

While we’re on the subject of goings-on under the skin, it’s worth noting that the Charger Daytona is Dodge’s first application of the STLA Large platform. The automaker is throwing the buzzword “BEV-native” at this platform, but for the sake of clarity, STLA Large is a flexible architecture made to accept longitudinal combustion power and skateboard electric power.

This also means that the Charger no longer draws inspiration from Y2K Mercedes-Benzes for its suspension geometry, now riding on a multi-link setup in the front and an integral link setup out back, the latter of which is named so because it controls caster using a compact and clever vertical integral link on each corner, eliminating the need for a space-robbing trailing arm and offering superior kinematic control, so long as rear axle steering isn’t desired.

Fortunately, once a Charger Daytona is done juicing up, it should be hellaciously quick thanks to a 250 kW motor with an integrated inverter and 11:1 gearset on each axle. Yep, this thing’s all-wheel-drive, and the front motor can effectively free-wheel when desired to boost efficiency. The Scat Pack trim cranks out 630 horsepower, which temporarily climbs to 670 horsepower when the Power Shot button on the steering wheel is pressed (see above). Dodge says the Scat Pack’s good for zero-to-60 mph in 3.3 seconds and the quarter-mile in 11.5 seconds. That’s nigh-on Hellcat quick, although given how tricky it is to launch a Hellcat, expect the Charger Daytona Scat Pack to be far more consistent. Even the 456-horsepower R/T model is solidly quick, with a claimed zero-to-60 mph time of 4.7 seconds and claimed quarter-mile time of 13.1 seconds. Like the Scat Pack, it sees a jump in output by pressing the Power Shot button, briefly adding 40 horsepower for a total of 496.

However, don’t confuse quick with fast. The Charger Daytona Scat Pack tops out at 134 mph, three miles per hour slower than the Charger Daytona R/T and, um, 41 mph slower than the old 6.4-liter V8-powered Scat Pack. You win some, you lose some. Granted, this isn’t the Charger Daytona’s final form, so a faster SRT variant isn’t out of the question.

Of course, just because the Charger Daytona is an EV doesn’t mean it’s silent. The Scat Pack trim comes with what Dodge calls a “Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust,” which contains a couple of passive radiators to let everyone around you know that you’re driving a muscle car. A passive radiator is essentially a speaker cone without the bits that make it go in and out using electrical signals, and passive radiators are frequently used to give Bluetooth speakers some extra kick. In this case, Dodge is using them to wake the dead. The only way the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust could get more aggressive is if it played “Knuck if You Buck” out the back at 110 decibels.

Three Or Five Doors

One thing that’s strange about the new Dodge Charger Daytona, at least to me, is that it somehow looks less fresh than the model it replaces. There’s a certain recession-era feel to the heaviness of the surfacing, and it’s not just because we haven’t seen many new cars with enough styling for ten in the past few years. Maybe the wheels just don’t make a huge impact, maybe the trailing edge of the door is too far forward, maybe the daytime running light just doesn’t look great split across three elements. Maybe the vents in the rear bumper are poorly resolved, creating an unnecessary ridge where they meet the bodysides, and while the giant slab of dark plastic used as a valence evens out the slope of the hood when viewed in profile, the reflections it catches make you wish the new Charger was a whole lot lower than it is. Then again, maybe some of it is the trickster qualities of silver, or the focal length of the lens used to shoot these photos. I will have to reserve full judgement until I see it in person.

Fortunately, there is a way to make the Charger look a little more interesting. If rear seat access is a priority for you, a Charger with two doors on each side goes into production early next year, and given what we know about trunk access, that means America’s about to gain a full-sized five-door liftback.

Maybe it’s the revised greenhouse slimming out the C-pillar, maybe it’s the fact that the doors are now located properly, but there’s something nice about the five-door model, and it’s not just the wider virtual camera angle used in the CGI renderings manipulating the model to look longer. To me, there’s an incremental improvement here, but it’s not night-and-day.

While we don’t have full specifications for all variants of the new Charger Daytona, we do have dimensions of the three-door model, and they’re audacious. Measuring 206.6 inches stem-to-stern in R/T trim and 79.8 inches wide, the new Charger is an enormous machine that’s even larger than its predecessor, a full-size sedan. For the record, that’s only 1.6 inches shorter than a brand new Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and half an inch longer than a Lexus LS. Oh, and then there’s the width, which makes the Charger Daytona just one tenth of an inch narrower than a Ford F-150 and 1.1 inches wider than a Lamborghini Countach LP5000S QV. We’re talking outrageous dimensions here. In person, this car should have capital-P Presence.

More Damper, More Rubber, More Management Of More Curb Weight

So, big car, excellent power, quick acceleration times. What else are we working with here? Well, Dodge seems to have done some work with the intention of making the new Charger handle, and some of that work seems to incorporate the ‘Murica F-yeah more-is-better philosophy to a tee. Old habits die hard, right?

Tick the box for the Track Pack on the Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack (so the full name will be: “Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack With Track Package”), and you’ll get dual-valve adaptive dampers, 410 mm brake discs with fixed calipers on all four corners, and sticky track day-oriented Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3 tires measuring 305/35ZR20 up front and 325/35ZR20 out back. Why might it need such enormous tires? Well, a curb weight of 5,838 pounds in electric Charger Daytona Scat Pack trim might have something to do with it.

Speaking of handling-related stuff, the rear drive unit in every Charger Daytona features a proper limited-slip differential for enhanced traction and shenanigans, some of which fall under what Dodge calls Race Options. The Charger Daytona will include a special Donut Mode, which the brand says “Enables the vehicle to spin only the rear wheels and to rotate around either of the front wheels without intervention from the traction control system.”

There’s also a drift mode built into the Race Options on the Charger Daytona, and it seems a bit like what McLaren’s doing with Variable Drift Control. According to Dodge:

The driver can select three levels of slip angle, and torque is rear-axle biased, using the front axle to help maintain slip angle. Front dampers become full soft and rear dampers go full stiff to enable an oversteer condition, and the traction control system allows for different wheel speed differentials without setting fault codes.

There are a few things to unpack here, so let’s do that now. Firstly, it sounds like drift mode might not let drivers turn the front motor off completely and go rear-wheel-drive. Granted, 335 horsepower in a 5,838-pound car would work out to 17.4 pounds per horsepower, but you don’t need big power to throw down. Just ask drift-king Keiichi Tsuchiya. Maybe Dodge can push a software update should owners desire, but either way, color us intrigued. Secondly, stiffer rear dampers and softer front dampers should decrease mechanical grip in the rear and increase it in the front, making it easier to initiate a drift. That’s proper race car science and a great unorthodox use of adaptive dampers.

Add in line lock for smoky burnouts, launch control, and special Race Prep battery pre-conditioning, and the Dodge Charger Daytona has a whole lot of toys in its arsenal. As with any functions that may draw attention from local law enforcement, use them responsibly.

The Inside Story

If the outside of the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona is throwing it back to 1968, the cabin is right on time. From the complex, flowing door cards to the proliferation of interactive technology, there’s no mistaking this cockpit for anything but a product of the 2020s. Up to 16 inches of digital instrument cluster behind a squircle steering wheel should offer plenty of information, while a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen on a driver-centric tilt feels like it’s here to remind BMW what it should be doing. It’s nice to see Dodge maintaining physical volume and tuning knobs, although not everything in the cabin is physical. The controls for the heated seats? Capacitive touch. The method of killing traction control? An actual button within easy reach of the shifter. Yep, Dodge knows its target market.

Speaking of fan service, it’s hard to not feel something looking at Dodge’s electronic reinterpretation of the classic pistol-grip shifter. Sure, a shifter in a typical electric vehicle doesn’t have a manumatic function, but does art need an excuse for existing? The heart wants what the heart wants.

Speaking of interior parts to get your pulse racing, check out those high-back seats with harness pass-throughs that look properly special. On the outgoing Charger, you effectively got wingback chairs in performance trims, and while those were plush and well-bolstered, they sure robbed a lot of interior room. These new front seats, in contrast, look to be a better blend of function and form.

Dodge is even offering the new Charger Daytona an integrated 1080p dashcam, an interesting piece of data acquisition gear more focused on track days than capturing incriminating footage of substandard motorists. Admittedly, I don’t expect many people to go hot lapping in a car that’s 206.6 inches long and weighs nearly three tons, but for those who will, we salute you. There’s a higher chance of people dropping the rear seats, opening the hatch, and using 103 cubic feet of cargo space as they see fit, and we salute those people too.

Early Perks

Remember way back in the propulsion system section of this article when we mentioned that the 2024 Charger Daytona Scat Pack will offer 630 horsepower, and the R/T will offer 456 horsepower? That’s only for the 2024 model year because Dodge is throwing in Direct Connection tunes for free, a Stage 1 on the R/T and a Stage 2 on the Scat Pack. Come the 2025 model year, unlocking horsepower will become a pay-to-play game, with your local Dodge parts counter handling the reflash. From Dodge:

The 400V propulsion system packs six performance levels into one powertrain. The 2024 Charger Daytona R/T arrives with a standard Direct Connection Stage 1 upgrade kit that adds 40 horsepower to reach a total of 496 horsepower, while the Daytona Scat Pack is delivered with a Stage 2 kit that offers an increase of additional 80 horsepower, taking total output to 670 horsepower. Future Daytona models will require purchase of Direct Connection Stage kits to upgrade from base models to Stage 1 and Stage 2 performance.

It turns out early adoption has some benefits. Mind you, Dodge makes Direct Connection upgrades sound more complicated than they are. Each trim gets its own Stage 1 and Stage 2 packages, which really gives each owner two choices besides staying stock.

Will It Work?

I’d seem like a sellout if I didn’t address the Hellephant in the room — the Dodge Charger Daytona EV is fighting an uphill battle. Just last year, Dodge had an entire lineup of endearing chest-thumping testosterone-laden burnout machines with a combined IQ of about seven. A Hellcat isn’t clever, which is exactly why it’s loved. Big dirty supercharged V8 up front, fully-lit Pirellis out back, “Free Bird” turned up to eleven in the middle — job done. It’s visceral, it’s provocative, it’s a twelve-year-old’s idea of how to make a fast car, and it rules. It wasn’t just Greta Van Fleet to the 1968 Charger’s Led Zeppelin, it was also Lil Durk, Germ, Young Thug, and Sexxy Red — a loud, braggadocious soundtrack for a new generation.

The new electric Dodge Charger Daytona has two potential paths — either win over diehards, or forge a new path. The old Charger eventually did both, but the political polarization of EVs has many muscle car devotees on the other side of the fence. At the same time, a litany of manufacturers are doing seriously interesting stuff with electric vehicles, to the point where a Kia EV6 GT put through Car And Driver testing posted performance numbers on-par with the Charger Daytona Scat Pack. When everything is savagely fast in a straight line and a litany of electric vehicles offer similar power curves, why go for a muscle car over a Nürburgring-tuned crossover, or a compact sports sedan, or something that looks almost French?

I like the concept of the Dodge Charger Daytona EV. We’re overdue for another three-door liftback, and the thought of a big, comfy, fast family car that isn’t a crossover makes me smile. Whether or not it’s a muscle car is a judgement we’ll have to reserve for when we drive it. If it sparks a fire in the hearts of those who drive it, I have a feeling it could steal some sales from rather unexpected places. Whatever happens, the story really gets going in a few months, as the Charger Daytona EV will enter production mid-year.

(Photo credits: Dodge)

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