Dodge Charger muscle car goes electric
The all-new Dodge Charger has been revealed in the US, with two electric powertrains offering up to 670bhp heading up the muscle car’s revised line-up.
Once famous for its rumbling V8 engines, the new Charger is the first electric Dodge and brings all-wheel-drive to the famously rear-driven model, as well as drift and donut modes, plus track and drag strip settings.
At the very top of the new line-up sits the Charger Daytona Scat Pack which uses twin 250kW motors to produce a standard 630bhp. That can be boosted to a massive 670bhp for 15 seconds at a time with the use of Power Shot mode. That gives the Charger Daytona Scat Pack a 0-60mph time of just 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 134mph. Of key importance to drag-strip obsessed Americans is a quarter-mile time of 11.5 seconds.
Below Daytona Scat Pack sits the Daytona R/T. This also uses two motors but offers a more conservative 496bhp. It’s still no slouch, covering the 0-60mph run in 4.7 seconds and the quarter mile in 13.1 seconds.
Both cars are able to run in rear-wheel-drive mode to improve efficiency and feature a mechanical limited slip differential on the rear axle for better traction. Various drive modes allow for tail-out silliness or a more focused track setup, and there’s line lock and launch control for those days at the drag strip. There are also more mundane road-focused modes to maximise range.
The Scat Pack can also be upgraded with a Track Pack that brings adaptive damping, 16-inch Brembo brakes – the largest ever fitted to a Dodge – and staggered-width 20-inch wheels.
Although it does without the sonorous V8 engine, Dodge says the Charger Daytona offers Hellcat levels of sound thanks to its “Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust”, which uses passive radiators to create a distinct and muscular engine note.
Both versions of the Charger Daytona use a 100kWh battery with ultra-rapid charging that will take it from 20-80% in 27 minutes. Under America’s EPA testing, which is tougher than WLTP, the battery gives the R/T a range of 317 miles and the Scat Pack a range of 260 miles.
The new car is based on Stellantis’s STLA large car platform, which will also be used for the recently announced Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV and EV and ICE models, as well as models from Alfa Romeo and Maserati. Alongside the electric versions, Dodge will offer two V6 petrol motors but, for the first time, has dropped V8s from the Charger’s line-up.
Early models will be two-door coupes offering a modern take on the Charger’s famous lines, with its long bonnet, wide grille and rising beltline. A four-door version will be launched in early 2025, effectively allowing one car to replace the outgoing Charger saloon and the Challenger coupe.
