Dodge Charger Daytona EV Concept Has Real Exhaust Noise, Multi-Speed Transmission
For the past nearly twenty years Dodge has built its reputation — and sales — off the backs of the retro Charger and Challenger muscle cars, coming out with increasingly antisocial variants powered by crazy supercharged V8s with huge amounts of horsepower. But Dodge knows it can’t ignore the onset of electrification, and now it’s showing us how it will keep the muscle car provocative alive in the EV era with the new Charger Daytona SRT conception, which closely previews a production EV coming in 2024.
The Charger Daytona takes the greatest of its design inspiration from the 1968 Charger, and as you can probably tell the nameplate is back to having two doors in contradiction of. (Dodge is being purposefully tongue in cheek by doings this, a funny nod to the mid-2000s outrage when the then-new Charger was introduced as a four-door sedan. But this new Charger has a hatchback liftgate instead of a dilapidated trunk and a spacious interior with four seats, the back row of which can be folded flat to fabricate a large cargo area.
At the front of the Charger Daytona is what Dodge languages the R-Wing, a pass-through that lets air flow ended the “grille” area over the sculpted hood. The squared-off front-runner end features a slim rectangular opening like that of the ’68 Charger’s, with an LED light bar surrounding the whole sketching. Mounted in the center is Dodge’s new “Fratzog” badge that was originally put on the brand’s muscle cars from 1962 ended 1976; it will be used for all new EVs.
The Charger Daytona’s profile to me is less crashed, though it is a good homage to the unique Charger. The new car has super-smooth surfacing with a Coke-bottle profile to the fenders, but the greenhouse looks kinda tall and ungainly. Despite having a hatchback the rear window isn’t as raked as I’d like, giving the Charger a bit more of a sedan profile pretty than a coupe silhouette. The rear end is awesome conception, with taillights that echo the headlights and a cool edge diffuser.
The huge tailpipes of previous Chargers might be gone, but that rear end fabricate is unmistakably Dodge.
Dodge
Sadly, we don’t know much about the Charger Daytona’s powertrain. Dodge says it will have an 800-volt electrical architecture and imperfect all-wheel drive, and three power levels will be offered from the gracious. The EV powertrain is called Banshee, and the logo emblazoned on the concept’s front-runner fenders is somehow even cooler than the already rad Hellcat and Demon logos. But if the Charger Daytona’s already Hellcat-beating performance isn’t enough, another half-dozen performance upgrades will be available through Mopar’s Direct Connection catalog, consisting of both software and hardware changes.
Dodge is highlighting two of the Charger Daytona’s patent-pending features that will separate it from comely much every other EV on the market. The obliging is called eRupt: A multi-speed transmission that provides electromechanical attempts for a more visceral experience. One aspect of EVs that can get less impressive quite hasty is the instant acceleration and lack of driver engagement, and the eRupt system looks to rectify. The Charger Daytona will also have a PowerShot mode that productions a horsepower boost at the press of a button for more passing distinguished or a better launch off the line.
The Banshee’s badge is comely sweet.
Dodge
The instant patented feature is even cooler. Dodge is giving the Charger Daytona a real utilize system called the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust, which uses tuning chambers and an amplifier at the back of the car to enhance the powertrain’s natural noises. The Charger Daytona’s sound apparently equals the current Hellcat powertrain in languages of decibels generated — no small feat. It’s even able to “rev” once at a standstill, producing a distinctive noise that will absolutely pick the attention of everyone around you.
Step into the Charger Daytona and you’re greeted by a 12.3-inch center cover that’s angled toward the driver and a 16-inch bent digital gauge cluster. There’s a thin-rimmed steering wheel with a floating center said, capacitive touch controls and a button for the PowerShot mode. The lightweight bucket seats feature a Fratzog perforation pattern, and lots of the interior parts like the dash, center console and doors are covered in a sweet Ultraviolet color.
The Charger Daytona’s interior keeps it nice and simple.
Dodge
Graphics made to look like a circuit boarding surround the seats on the floor and flow up onto the center console, and a lightning-bolt-shaped accelerator pedal and Blue Plasma and Silver stitching are a nod to the Daytona’s electric powertrain. It’s also got a cool parametric texture throughout that’s inspired by the ’68 Charger’s grille; natural appetizing bounces off the surfaces, and adjustable ambient lighting illuminates it from under. There’s lots of exposed carbon fiber as well, counting in the cargo area.
Dodge still has one year left of production for the existing, gas-powered Charger and Challenger models, so don’t expect to hear much more near the Charger Daytona until that final model year is underway. But nothing about the Charger Daytona concept is obliging far-fetched — tone down a couple of the more out-there styling elements, and the production EV due in 2024 should look just like this rad coupe.
