It’s part of a general shift from Dodge, Stellantis’ American high-performance car division, toward electrified vehicles. The brand’s current gas-powered muscle cars, the Charger and Challenger, will end production next year. The concept muscle car called Dodge Charger Daytona SRT resembles a model that executives say will go on sale in 2024. It will join a new small SUV called the Hornet, which will be available as a plug-in hybrid and is expected to go on sale later this year.
The Charger Daytona has tailpipes that make noise and a gearbox that shifts gears. None of that is necessary in an electric car, of course, but Dodge assumes its target customer isn’t looking for what’s absolutely necessary. Those customers are looking for excitement, said Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis, which requires more than quick acceleration.
“We think we’re going to launch a car that customers didn’t see coming,” he said. “But you’ll definitely hear this one coming.”
The Charger Daytona produces a deep, loud hum that sounds a bit like high-voltage electrical equipment. The noise is not generated by speakers like the noise of most electric cars, but by pulses of air forced through tubes with baffles and chambers inside.
The pulses of air vary in speed and force depending on how fast the car is going and how hard the accelerator pedal is pressed, much like the pulses of air produced by an internal combustion engine. According to Dodge, the noise it produces can be as high as 126 decibels. That’s about the level at which ears start to hurt and well above the level at which prolonged exposure can cause hearing loss, according to the National Hearing Conservation Association.
Unlike most electric cars, the Charger Daytona has a transmission with more than just one or two gears. Most electric cars only have a 1-speed gearbox because, unlike petrol engines, electric motors already develop their full power at very low speeds and deliver it even at very high speeds. In contrast, petrol engines have a relatively narrow speed range in which they can deliver full power. Therefore, a transmission with different gears is required to keep the engine within this “power band” as the car moves slower and faster.
However, Dodge designers and engineers felt that electric car drivers might miss the sounds and sensations of a gear shift. As a result, the Charger Daytona has a multi-speed gearbox, although that’s not really necessary. Kuniskis did not want to say how many gears the transmission has. The gas-powered Dodge Challenger Hellcat with 717 hp has an eight-speed gearbox. Classic Dodge Charger muscle cars, like those modeled after the EV, had three- or four-speed transmissions.
Dodge hasn’t announced how much power the four-wheel drive’s electric motors will produce, though the company has promised it will be faster than the Dodge Challenger Hellcat “in all key performance measurements.” The supercharged Hellcat, a rear-wheel-drive gasoline-powered car, can accelerate from a stop to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, according to Car and Driver.
With its narrow square nose and dark color, the Charger Daytona EV resembles a late 1968 Charger. With its dark paint color, it looks a bit like the Dodge Charger used in a famous car chase in the Bullitt movie, der, der Chasing Steve McQueen’s Ford Mustang – and being chased by him.
The front of the Charger Daytona EV hides a wing that runs just above the “grille”. The wing allows air to pass underneath, which improves the car’s aerodynamic efficiency. Air intakes cut into the sides at the front and rear also help to improve the aerodynamics of the overall angular body.
Dodge hasn’t said how much the production version of the car could cost when it goes on sale.