Has the Dodge Charger predicted the future of muscle cars?

Last week, I explained how a car like the Hyundai Ioniq 5N deserves a spot in your enthusiast heart. That’s an easy ask – the Ioniq doesn’t have a history dating back to the 1960s. But a car like this 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona…it has a famous name.

Like they said in Gladiator, “they have to kill the name before they kill you.”

The 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona Overview

As you’ve probably heard, this car has not sold very well. It’s taken Dodge about a year to figure out that an electric Charger isn’t the kind of Charger that fans would want. So by this time next year, a ICE edition will be back. Hoo-ray.

Perhaps if they’d called it anything else, it wouldn’t be considered such an affront.

But this car isn’t dying, and despite what others may think, I believe Dodge made the right call – simply at the wrong time. Porsche 911. BMW M3. Chevrolet Corvette – hallowed names that most automotive brands would love to have. But the curse of the name is there as well – how will Porsche seriously push an electric 911 across the desk to someone who owns a GT3? I don’t have the answer.

Dodge tried to get ahead of all that – electric cars were supposed to be the only thing on sale in ten years, and now that’s changed. Could change again, depending upon who’s sitting in that big white house. Here, Dodge has distilled the Charger name down to its essence – straight-line speed, and then built this latest car around that concept.

This is a 670-horsepower muscle car*. It encourages you to activate launch control, and punches a hole in the air that matches the shape of the original. Yes, it’s all-wheel drive and comes with the cockpit of an X-Wing fighter, but Dodge is hoping you’ll forgive that because speed.

Notice the asterisk? Yea, let’s see if this really is muscle.

Performance Score: 6. Water weight

This car seems stuck on honoring the past and worrying about the future. Marty McFly swapped the DeLoren for this.

Motors

The Charger has a motor at each axle that’s good for a combined 670 horsepower. Because they are so nice, Dodge sent me a Daytona Scat Pack Stage two, which adds 80 horsepower for a mere $3,200. Obviously, you want to check that box.

There are a lot of different ways to serve this power, such as the PowerShot mode, which gives you (ahem: Emperor Palpatine voice) Unlimited POWAAA – for ten seconds. The safest place to try this is a place like, I dunno – Newark Airport? You will reach the horizon quickly.

We also have Donut, Drift, Track and Drag modes, performing as you’d expect and priming the car for each run. It can be a lot to get through, and should be condensed into one button:  “I just want to beat the bro in the next lane and steal his girl.” I’m sure that doesn’t fit, but whatever.

Note the absence of an SRT badge – no matter, as this car is faster than even the scariest Challenger Hellcat from the factory. Imagine the look on their faces when you hit the “steal your girl” button. But all these modes are there to remind you that if you do use any one of them, your range will deplete faster than your bank account on college acceptance day. You pay for power that you can’t always use. A V-8 had no such limitation.

Ah yes, the lack of audio feedback from exploding metal tubes containing dead dinosaur juice. Dodge thought of that, so they’ve included a soundtrack. When you start this car it sounds like an F-15, and I’m not exaggerating. It’s like, so loud – scare your neighbors, kids, wife, dead relatives…no one is safe. Makes you cheese grin like a first date. Once you get rolling it’s a bit much: just turn it off and let the Charger be quiet. Though I will admit to having fun in Track mode with the sound on – it adds to the drama.

Transmission

This is a typical direct-drive electric car that sends power to all four wheels, but we should talk about the shifter inside. It’s gigantic and awkwardly shaped, blocks the little phone cubby, and is generally hard to pull – you really gotta grip it.

I’m sure the intention was to invoke those old T-shifters of yore, but it seems out of place in an electric car. There is no transmission so to speak, so stop acting like there is one. 

Steering and Chassis

Expectations should be managed here; this is a 6,000-pound coupe on 20-inch all-season tires. Before even thinking of signing those 36-month papers, check off the optional Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperCar 3 rubber box (wider in the back too). It should help with the numb and inaccurate steering feel this Charger has.

Despite the optional Adaptive suspension combined with a Widebody Competition suspension (separate items on the Monroney), this car never feels settled. It leans, squats and dives through every turn, and in general isn’t very fun to whip around despite the promise of its exterior.

But it’s also somewhat harsh on the highway as it bounces and jiggles down the road. Stepping on the gas only unsettles the car and causes the nose to lift up. Seats that you feel perched on (more on them in a minute) only add to the sensation of float.

It might be a muscle car, but it doesn’t need the suspension feel of one. This should be tighter and more composed. 

Brakes

A big (16.1 inches!) set of red Brembo brakes helps slow you down – trust me, you do need them, even with brake regen turned to the max. Pedal feel is good, though you get a real sense of the weight this car has when you stomp on them and the Charger dives like a submarine. 

Around town you can simply rely on max brake regen – it continues to be one of the best things about electric cars in general, and this Dodge is no exception.

Lifestyle Score: 3. New York Giant

The BMW M5 Touring is a big car – it barely fits in my garage. But it fits. This Charger doesn’t – the nose sticks out. It has a longer wheelbase and is over seven inches longer than that four-door wagon. Parking it is an issue anywhere, not just at home, as it barely squeezes in a stall space.

Giving a modern car 60’s proportions means that size is a requirement, I get it. But open the glass hatch to find a trunk that’s not able to accommodate much because of its sloping glass and high floor needed to clear the electric powertrain. The nose is huge too, leaving the cabin to fend for itself when it comes to space.

Speaking of, open gigantic coupe doors to find front seats that just aren’t very supportive and make you feel as if you sit on them instead of in them. Any drive over an hour is going to make your back yelp. The back seat has room for two, but the low roof line means it’ll chop your passenger’s head off. The back of an M2 is more roomy (and useful).

So it’s needlessly big and not packaged very well. But if you like the muscle car look, then the proportions will make sense.

Fuel Economy: NA. Charging the Charger

I wrote about my experience living with this car, including charging it. It’s not really any cheaper or more efficient than a gas-powered car, but if you can refuel yours at home you’ll reap more of the rewards.

Expect about 200 miles of range, depending upon how much you push that go pedal. Dodge doesn’t provide a NACS connector, so you’ll have to either purchase one or use one from another car. Its 400-volt architecture and 94-kWh battery also lags behind 800-volt competitors.

At the end of the day, the benefits of an electric car must really outweigh the visceral feel a V-8 produces, and I don’t think we’re there yet. 

Features and Comfort: 7. Caught between worlds

The Daytona has a premium price, but not a premium feel inside. As this car sits, its $78,970 MSRP might give you pause.

Mom’s Voyager

The first think you’ll notice upon opening the door are those Demonic Red seats, a $495 option. The maroon color and fabric are reminiscent of another FCA product – a Plymouth Voyager minivan from the 80’s. Go ahead and Google that if you’re not familiar.

The cabin is a mix of ideas and shapes. There’s a gigantic electrochromic sunroof that negates the need for a shade while still offering a dimming solution, and it works really well. But it doesn’t open and adds weight to a car that’s already had the whole box of donuts (not the smoky kind).

The dashboard feels like it goes on forever, with lines that connect to the doors and disperses into a futuristic-looking pattern. But the materials aren’t soft to the touch. Feels like the only real leather is on the steering wheel.

The infotainment is very confusing to navigate through, especially once on the move, though the digital dash is big and easy to read.  Electric door handles are also an odd choice, because there’s a real handle right below the button. Overall, no good (or bad) idea went to waste inside here.

They got it right

Muscle cars are about fun – and not taking yourself too seriously. So let’s talk about this electric blue paint job for $795.

Bludicrious!

That’s a great name, and this is a great color.

One of the best parts of this car is its looks, which immediately identifies it as a Dodge Charger while bringing the shape forward. I thought the old car (the Challenger Coupe) was way past its sell-by date, with a style that has pretty much carried on from the mid 2000s. This new one creates an aggressive, swoopy shape, with terrific wheels and a hood spoiler (what else would you call it?) that mimics a hood scoop.

The black trim, as on every other car, is something I could do without. And it’s curiously devoid of logos aside from the Rumble Bee-inspired one on the side quarter-panels and a sole Fratzog badge.

I like that, but it’s almost as if Dodge was afraid to call it by its name.

Others sport coupes to consider

• 2024 Lexus RC-F Track Edition
• 2011 BMW M3 Coupe (supercharged)
• 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray
• 2004 Ford Mustang Cobra SVT

The 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona’s issue isn’t that it’s electric

The name is tough to get around. Once you put a legendary name on a car, it becomes a part of the name’s legacy. Duh, I know, but if one generation isn’t as good, does it tarnish the name?

The 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona wants to live up to that reputation. I can feel it when I step on the gas, or when someone stares at it in a parking lot. This isn’t a bad car, and it isn’t a bad Charger because it’s electric.

But it’s also not a car I’d say feels fully cooked. This is a grand touring muscle car, but it’s not very comfortable and maintains a whiff of that cheap Dodge reputation when it comes to build quality. Smashing the gas never gets old, but the car is such a handful that you never really feel the urge to do more for than one or two pulls.

Will adding a V-8 back make you feel better? I suppose it makes the rest of the car easier to accept if you’re after that visceral experience. But my point here is that regardless of powertrain, the Charger feels a bit underwhelming. 

In the end, that may be what it’s remembered for the most.