Dodge Charger Daytona SRT: the gamble of an electric muscle car

Symbols of American automobiles and its excess, muscle cars are also in the process of switching to electric.

Certainly an electric car, but a car “that drives like a Dodge, looks like a Dodge, and sounds like a Dodge”. From the very beginning of its press release, the American brand wants to reassure its fans: the Charger Daytona SRT Concept is not a lower-quality Dodge!

Imagining the future by building on the past

Dressed like the original Charger with a two-door coupe body style, this concept does not aim to revolutionize the design of muscle cars. On the contrary, the idea was rather to continue in the footsteps of what has been done before. The very name of the concept and the spoiler on the lower part of the hood (the “R-Wing”) evoke the 1969 Charger Daytona, the first NASCAR car to break the 200 mph barrier. The Fratzog logo, which is illuminated here, also harks back to the past, as does the gun-shaped gearshift lever.

Using an 800-volt architecture, the Charger Daytona SRT is powered by an electric motor driving all four wheels. According to the American manufacturer, it delivers performance exceeding that of the famous HEMI V8, a motor that produces over 700 hp on the SRT Hellcat. But since no numerical data has been shared, we must take Dodge’s word for it.

A loud electric Dodge

In general, the Charger Daytona SRT Concept was developed with the intention of capturing what makes internal combustion cars exciting. That’s why it features an electromagnetic gearbox that clearly marks each shift. And it is also for this reason that Dodge equipped it with a “fake exhaust” capable of emitting a roar of 126 decibels, comparable in sound intensity to that produced by the Hellcat V8. These innovations have been given nicknames: “eRupt” for the gearbox, and “Fratzonic” for the fake exhaust. The electric motorization has been named “Banshee”.

The Charger Daytona SRT will not be marketed as is, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see a fully electric muscle car in Dodge’s lineup one day. The question remains whether the target audience, often very attached to throaty V8s, will be receptive to this type of vehicle.

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