Dodge is committed to building muscle cars. Whether it’s gasoline or gasoline, the company doesn’t care. They said it 18 months ago at the debut of the two-door Charger Daytona. This concept is already a reality.
However, the Charger line does not improve fuel. The company’s new twin-turbocharged six-cylinder Hurricane fuel engine, already installed in Jeep and Ram products, will also make its way into the lineup. These models will carry the Daytona badge, but it’s simply called the Chargers.
The Chargers and Charger Daytona will come in two- and four-door variants. The two-door Dodge Charger Daytona will go on sale later this year. Production of all-electric four-door models and fuel chargers will begin in the first quarter. of 2025 at the company’s meeting plant in Windsor, Ontario.
“Ten or twelve years ago, we distilled the logo into this performance-based American Muscle logo, staying very true to that philosophy and making sure we deliver precisely what consumers want. Forget everything else,” Tim Kuniskis, Dodge CEO, said at the unveiling of the 2024 and 2025 model year vehicles.
“Millions of horses later, everyone understands the brand. But as we did so, we knew the typhoon ahead of us. We knew regulations were tightening around us. “
“We’re seeing an overall transformation of perhaps Dodge’s most iconic brand,” Robthrough DeGraff, AutoPacific’s head of product and customer analytics, told Newsweek. “The next Charger is taking a different path than its predecessor (and sibling Challenger). It’s gone are the V8s and rear-wheel drive and replaced by performance-driven electrification. I think Dodge is making the right decision by not promoting the Charger exclusively as an electric vehicle. “
Although sales of battery-electric cars have slowed this year in the U. S. , they remain on an upward trend as Americans become receptive to new electrified powertrain options.
“We don’t want everyone to be ready, able or want to fully dedicate themselves to an electric vehicle. By equipping the Charger with the turbocharged six-cylinder “Hurricane” engine, consumers still have the possibility to choose the desired propulsion and this approach. “It guarantees sales, because there’s a smart chance that right now a lot more ICE chargers are being sold and sought after than electric vehicles,” DeGraff said.
“When we surveyed long-term buyers of the Dodge brand, only about 15% plan to buy an electric vehicle, while 53% intend to buy a gasoline-powered vehicle. The same goes for the sedan, I’m pleased that it’s also featured, and the fact that it has a smart lift greatly enhances practicality.
The Dodge Charger Daytona R/T and Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack will arrive first. The front trim of the new Charger styling features a sloping front finish for aerodynamic purposes, reminiscent of the NASCAR winner of the ’60s and ’70s, earning the car the nickname Daytona.
The 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack will deliver 670 horsepower (hp) and hit 60 mph in 3. 3 seconds. The Charger Daytona R/T develops 496 hp. Both use a 100. 5-kilowatt-hour battery and two all-wheel-drive motors.
However, since Dodge is a powerhouse car company, all versions will send power solely to the rear wheels, some with Drift and Donut driving modes, in addition to the usual Normal, Sport, Track and Custom. It generates its own “exhaust” noise, the company said.
The Charger Daytona R/T will have an all-electric range of 317 miles, while the tougher Scat Pack has a provisional rating of 260 miles. Both have a 400-volt architecture (the upcoming Daytona Banshee Charger will have an 800-volt system). And either of them has a maximum rate on an evaluator of 350 kilowatts and 183 kilowatts.
Dodge claims that with a DC Quick Evaluator, any of the vehicles can rate from 5 to 80 percent in 32. 5 minutes. In a Level 2 home tester, this takes approximately 6. 5 hours.
The new gas-powered Dodge Charger, which is also available with all-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive, offers a 550-horsepower edition of the company’s Hurricane engine with a new name. The company calls it the SixPack High Output engine. The entry-level Dodge Charger will get the same engine, tuned and rated Standard Output SixPack, with 420 hp.
All new Chargers will have a trunk-resembling tailgate, providing 38. 5 cubic feet of shipping space. That’s more than double that of the previous model.
Dodge says it used the 1968 Dodge Charger to draw inspiration from the textures and horizontal lines of the car’s cabin. Vintage meets fashion, as the car comes with an optional 10. 25-inch or 16-inch virtual tool cluster, as well as a 12. 3-inch virtual tool panel. Intermediate screen.
Ambient lighting in all 64 available colors extends around the front seats. A flat up/down idler features paddles for other degrees of regenerative braking on Charger Dayton models, while a pistol-grip shifter selects gears. On gas-powered Chargers, those paddles will be used to shift gears.
Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, as is Alexa voice assistant technology. A virtual key allows owners to use their smartphone to unlock and start vehicles.
Cloth and vinyl seats are standard. Black and red Nappa leather seats are optional. A new seat with constant headrest and high back is also available with the Plus Package, Track Package and Carbon Package
The 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona comes with Forward Collision Warning and Automatic Emergency Braking with Vulnerable Road User Detection, Active Lane Management, Active Driving Assist, Adaptive Stop-and-Start Cruise Control, Blind Spot Detection with Rear Cross-Traffic Detection, Traffic Sign Recognition, and Drowsiness. Driver detection. Parking sensors, a 360-degree camera, front tire tracking cameras, and blind-spot cameras are optional.
Prices for the 2024 and 2025 two- and four-door Charger Daytona and Charger models will be known closer to their on-sale date.
Jake Lingeman is the editor-in-chief of the Autos team at Newsweek. In the past he worked for Autoweek, The Detroit News, Bring a Trailer and CarBuzz, covering all spaces of the automotive industry. Jake is an alumnus of Wayne State University.