The Car Connection Expert Review
Likes
- Classic Dodge style
- Scat Pack 0-60 mph in 3.3 seconds
- Three- and five-door models
- Premium standard features
- Crossover-like hatch
Dislikes
- 5,838 pounds
- Large in every dimension
- Price?
Buying tip
A muscle car for the electric era, the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona pits performance over efficiency.
What kind of vehicle is the 2024 Dodge Charger? What does it compare to?
After a much ballyhooed final year and the end of the Dodge V-8, the 2024 Dodge Charger returns primarily as an electric vehicle badged as the Charger Daytona. A 550-hp and 420 hp twin-turbo inline-6 will follow in 2025 as a Charger Sixpack, but for now the muscular electric car absorbs the Challenger coupe into the nameplate with three-door and five-door options. That’s right, the coupe and sedan are hatchbacks. It competes against both the gas-powered Ford Mustang and the electric Mustang Mach-E, but the reimagined Charger opposes more homogenized electric sedans and hatchbacks, from the Tesla Model 3 to the Kia EV6.
Is the 2024 Dodge Charger a good car?
Its distinctive style and performance profile, as well as its loaded feature set, will likely rate high when the Charger Daytona R/T and Scat Pack electric models go on sale this summer. Until we drive it, we’ll hold off on giving it a TCC Rating. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
What's new for the 2024 Dodge Charger?
Everything, although it hews pretty closely to the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept revealed in August 2022. The most notable design feature that carries through is the R-wing, which is like a front wing on the nose. The pass-through enhances downforce, but it also retains the muscle car proportions by crowning a nose cone that otherwise dips down so low it could look like the original 1968 Dodge Charger Daytona automotive platypus.
This iteration of the Charger Daytona looks more like a muscle car than any EV on sale now, as if scoffing at curvaceous sedans or podlike crossovers. It’s wide, low, haunched, and mean, and thrusts Dodge into its electric future. The sweeping C-pillars extend the roofline into the tail, where a rising body line accentuates the profile’s athletic proportions. Wide haunches and smooth body sides flex its muscle, and the drag-strip-style lighting below the R-wing boxes the low visual width of the car. That’s repeated in back, by Dodge’s signature racetrack rectangular lighting. Words and pictures don’t capture the presence of the Dodge Charger Daytona in defining the oxymoronic electric muscle car.
In short, Dodge marries its heritage and its future in one gorgeous design, and the five-door in Peel Out orange is even more alluring. To our eye, every Charger Daytona looks more muscular than the outgoing Challenger and more visually American than any EV on sale now.
Dimensionally, the 2024 Charger Daytona extends to 206.6 inches in length with a 121-inch wheelbase; that’s more than half-a-foot longer than the outgoing gas Charger, and the wheelbase is an inch longer. Despite being an inch taller at 59.0 inches, it looks mean and muscular due in part to its prodigious width; it’s nearly five inches wider at 79.8 inches (without mirrors), and Dodge says it’s one of the widest vehicles on the road this side of a dually heavy-duty truck. The ground clearance rises from 5.2 to 5.6 inches, but Dodge hides the massive battery pack filling the floor with a black underbody that rises up behind the rear wheels into the short deck and pert hatch. It’s complemented by a black roof or an available fixed glass roof.
What powers the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona?
Daytona models use a 100.5-kwh (93.5-kwh usable) lithium-ion battery pack made with nickel, cobalt, and aluminum, as in most other electric cars. The battery feeds two drive units with 250-kw permanent magnet synchronous motors, one for each axle for standard all-wheel drive. Both the Daytona R/T and the Daytona Scat Pack come standard with a Power Shot upgrade that next year will cost owners extra. Opposite the drive mode button on the steering wheel is the button that provides 15-second boosts of an extra 40 hp, as long as you allow 30 seconds between each boost.
How fast is the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona?
For now, the Direct Connection Stage 1 upgrade kit on the Daytona R/T comes standard and the extra 40 hp boosts total output to 496 hp and 404 lb-ft of torque. Dodge estimates a 0-60 mph time of 4.7 seconds, a quarter-mile of 13.1 seconds, and a top speed of 137 mph. The V-8 in the 2023 Dodge Charger R/T made 375 hp and 395 lb-ft. The predecessor’s R/T and Scat Pack models had a 0-60 mph time of 4.3 seconds.
One other noteworthy spec for the Daytona R/T? A range of 317 miles.
The Direct Connection Stage 2 upgrade kit, or Power Shot for short, on the Daytona Scat Pack boosts it to 670 hp and 627 lb-ft. It specs out to a 0-60 mph time of 3.3 seconds, a quarter-mile of 11.5 seconds, and a top speed of 134 mph. It has a range of 260 miles.
The front drive unit has a disconnect to cut power to the wheels and improve range and efficiency, while the rear unit has a mechanical limited-slip differential for better traction out of corners. Drive modes include the usual suspects, while Scat Packs get Drag, Drift, and Donut modes that cut or limit power to the front axle and neuter the traction control system. The Scat Pack Track Pack adds adaptive dampers to the multi-link front and rear suspension, and in Drift mode the front dampers go soft and the rear dampers ratchet up to the stiffest setting to induce oversteer.
Of course there’s a launch control function, the better to get power on the staggered tires of the Track Package. That consists of Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3 305/35ZR20 up front on 11-inch wide wheels and 325s on 11.5-inch wide wheels in back. The standard wheels are 18 inches, but there are several 20-inch options, and the range is based on 20-inch wheels. A chambered Fratzonic exhaust augmented by electronics provides what Dodge calls “Hellcat levels of sound.” It can be disabled via a stealth mode.
Even though Dodge downplays range and efficiency for performance, the range is above average considering that both Charger Daytonas weigh a whopping 5,838 pounds.
It would follow then that the Daytonas have the largest brake package ever offered on a Dodge with a Track Package consisting of 16.0-inch rotors front and rear, with 6-piston Brembo calipers up front and 4-piston calipers in back. Those brakes are standard for the first model year. Paddle shifters enable three levels of regenerative braking, but one-pedal driving is not part of it.
How long does it take to charge the Dodge Charger Daytona?
The 400-volt architecture supports a peak DC fast-charge rate of 183 kw, so on an available 350-kw DC charger the Daytona’s battery would charge from 20-80% in about 28 minutes. At home on a 240-volt connection, the Daytona’s 11-kw onboard charger fills the battery from 20-80% in 5.5 hours, or from 5-80% in about seven hours. Expect 10 hours for a full state of charge. Dodge will adapt the Tesla NACS protocol in 2025.
How big is the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona?
The muscular proportions of the new Charger Daytona give way to a roomier passenger area and a smart hatch that can hold a crossover-like 38.5 cubic feet of space with the 60:40-split seat backs folded down, which Dodge says is 133% more than the outgoing Charger. With the seats up, there’s about 23 cubic feet of space, with a hidden storage space in the floor. The cargo space is shallow but long, so taller or bulkier items might have to ride on the rear seat backs. A 1.5-cubic foot front trunk stows the charge cord and a backpack.
Headroom is decent even with the available fixed glass roof, though 6-footers will want to avoid the back seats. Legroom of 37.2 inches in the rear matches most compact crossovers. Getting in back of the three-door requires a pull of a latch or you could take it slow with the power seat functions; the prototype we tested had limited functionality. Four passengers would fit well enough in three-door models; the five-door model we viewed was not fully equipped with rear seats and Dodge didn’t disclose specs so we can’t speak to its roominess.
How safe is the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona?
With crash-test results pending, the Dodge Charger Daytona should avoid some potential crashes due to its standard suite of driver-assist technology. It has automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, active lane control, adaptive cruise control down to a stop, blind-spot monitors, and a driver-attention monitor.
Optional equipment includes parking sensors, a surround-view camera system, side cameras that show a tire-to-curb view when parallel parking, and blind-spot camera views.
How much does the 2024 Dodge Charger cost?
The reimagined Dodge Charger EV arrives in dealer lots in the fourth quarter of 2024 with a starting price of $61,590, including a $1,995 destination fee. That’s for the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T with the standard Stage 1 upgrade to 496 hp and 404 lb-ft. The Scat Pack includes the Track Package and Stage 2 upgrade (670 hp, 627 lb-ft) for $75,185.
Both models qualify for the full $7,500 federal EV tax credit that can be redeemed at the point of purchase, so no need to wait for tax filings. Every Charger comes with all-wheel drive, a 10.3-inch digital instrument cluster (or an available 16.0-inch cluster) horizontally aligned with a 12.3-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a wireless smartphone charger. Heated front seats and power adjustments for the driver are also standard, as is remote start and either a free Level 2 at-home charging station of $600 in charge credits on the brand’s charging network. Cloth upholstery is standard, while nappa leather is an option.
Where is the 2024 Dodge Charger made?
Across the river at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada.
