How the New Hemi-Less Dodge Charger's Six-Cylinder and Electric Powertrains Stack Up
The new Charger Daytona is built on a platform that supports electric and ICE powertrains with the intention of keeping muscle cars alive.
"What's the horsepower of the Dark Horse?" Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis quipped when asked if he felt pressure from Ford and its Mustang to keep the V-8 alive. The self-professed "American Cowboy" folds his arms, leaned against the stage where the electric 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T and Charger Daytona Scat Pack glow back at the media with unshakable confidence as the three of them wait for an answer. We all knew the answer—500 hp—and that Dodge just finished briefing us on the 550 hp 3.0-liter twin turbo I-6 Hurricane-powered Charger Sixpack H.O. (high output).
But hold up—what are we talking about here? We have already mentioned three different Dodges: Charger Daytona R/T, Charger Daytona Scat Pack, and Charger Sixpack H.O. Before we clear all that up, here's a couple more: Charger Sixpack S.O. and Charger Daytona SRT Banshee. With two ICE engines, electric motors, AWD and RWD drivetrains among them plus two- and four-door versions, they must be different vehicles, right? Wrong. Well, sort of…
STLA-Large Multi-Energy Platform
From inception, the STLA-Large vehicle platform was designed to host sedans, coupes, and utility vehicles with full-electric or ICE powertrains. Interestingly, Dodge engineers explain that the four-door version of the Charger was a bigger challenge than figuring out a solution for a multi-energy vehicle platform. To keep them straight, Sixpack means ICE, and Daytona means electric. The Sixpacks will come in 2025, along with the anticipated 800-volt 900-hp Daytona SRT Banshee.
The Sixpack—without the battery as a major structural component—is 20 percent stiffer than the current Dodge Charger with a 12-15 percent better power to weight ratio if it has the standard- or high-output Hurricane respectively. The two-door BEV Daytona, which is expected to start production this summer, is completing final durability and stiffness validation, so we don't have numbers for it yet, but the additional structure and lowered center of gravity should positively impact the electric muscle car.
Both versions have a tunnel in the floor for a drive shaft, but it makes the Daytona feel more familiar from the inside. The Daytona features the new R-Wing aero feature over the sharply sloped hood underneath, which is a nod to the nose cone of the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona. The Sixpack fills out the indentation in the hood to fit the Hurricane and changes the lower air vents to suit its unique cooling modules and needs compared to the electric Daytona.
Charged-Up Charger
We already know a lot about the Hurricane engines found in the 2025 Dodge Ram pickup truck and 2024 Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV, so let's look at the motors and batteries the Charger Daytona. The Daytona R/T and Scat Pack feature two 335 hp (250 kW) permanent-magnet electric motors in the front and rear with 314 lb-ft of torque. The lowest powered base R/T starts at 455 hp, and the Scat Pack starts at 590 hp. The full power can be unlocked—up to 670 hp for a Stage 2 Daytona Scat Pack—with Direct Connection Stage Kits available through a dealer. It is expected that the kits are just a software change, but having a technician perform the software upgrade at least gives the peace of mind that it was loaded successfully.
The three-in-one electric drive modules house the inverter, drive unit, and motor in one package. The front motor can decouple from the front wheels to let them coast, like when cruising down the highway, and the rear unit has a mechanical limited-slip differential—no simulated electric lockers here. Three regen levels can be selected with column-mounted paddles: 0.1 g, 0.2 g, and 0.3 g, with one-pedal driving available.
Charger Batteries and ... Charging
The Daytona uses a 400-volt (442-volt peak) 110 kWh (93.9 kWh usable capacity) lithium-nickel-cobalt-aluminum-oxide Samsung battery with 13 series modules, capable of a 550-kW maximum discharge rate. We haven't verified the claim exhaustively, but Kuniskis says that beats the next-best rating of 500 kW from any other production car today. Range is down-played because muscle cars aren't meant be efficient—the Dodge team jokingly replies with "Who cares?" when we ask about it—but it is better than you might expect.
The 2024 Daytona R/T Stage 1 at launch has an estimated 317 miles of range, and the base R/T should be higher than that. Capable of a 183-kW peak charging rate, that means a five to 80 percent change should happen in 32.5 minutes, and 20-80 percent charge needs only 27.6 minutes. The Daytona is expected to launch with a CCS charging port but based on recent announcements and comments to the media at the Daytona reveal, it's plausible that 2024 models will ship with NACS adapters, with 2025 models using it natively as Stellantis ditches CCS on its vehicles. Dodge likes to say it won't build EVs but will build muscle cars made better and faster with electricity, and yet, those are solid EV specs.
Drag and Track Modes
Battery conditioning for Drag and Track modes show us that Dodge did its homework. In Drag mode, the battery is heated quickly, maintaining higher temperatures during down time for consistent performance on the strip. On the track, the car runs for much longer periods of time, constantly alternating between charging and discharging through acceleration and regenerative braking.
In this situation, the battery pack is conditioned to a colder temperature than the maximum discharge rate initially, putting the system ahead in maintaining optimal temperatures longer for more laps and less breaks between sessions. The battery pack is liquid cooled and heated, with additional chiller cooling to combat heat build-up. Auxiliary battery chillers typically utilize refrigerant from the air conditioning system, but we don't have specifics just yet from Dodge.
Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust
To sound and feel more like a traditional muscle car, Dodge is developing a chambered exhaust system. Speakers plays a curated sound that travels through structures like a muffler. The volume will be at least as loud as the current Hellcat exhaust with a Stealth mode to turn it off. What we know for sure is the sound is based on the 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 firing order of a Hemi V-8. The exhaust note we all love from our gassers is just the engine pushing air, and speakers also just move air. That might not be a convincing argument for everyone, but what we've heard in clips floating around the internet so far won't be the final version. If nothing else, the auditory feedback should help our brains sense what the car is doing on the track.
Can Tech Replace V-8 Muscle?
On paper, Dodge built a compelling performance-oriented electric vehicle and an exciting twin turbo I-6 car. But are they muscle cars? The narrative from whatever organization or political directive we want to blame at any given moment is trying to eliminate the gassers, but no one ever said we couldn't race the EVs, and Dodge has reinvented what it thinks a muscle car can be. Most of our electricity in North America comes from expendable resources, so blitzing through a charge as quick as possible at the track is an IDGAF approach right in line with the muscle car ethos. It looks good, but are you convinced? We'll save our verdict until we get to experience one for ourselves.
Cars should look cool and go fast. At least, that was Matthew’s general view of the world growing up in Metro Detroit in the early ’90s, and there was no exception. Raised in the household of a Ford engineer and car enthusiast, NASCAR races monopolized the television every Sunday and asking, “what car is this?” at every car show his dad took him too before he could read taught him that his favorite car was specifically, the 1971 Chevelle SS. (1970 can keep its double headlights, it’s a better look for the rear!) He learned the name of every part of a car by means of a seemingly endless supply of model car kits from his dad’s collection and could never figure out why his parents would drive a Ford Taurus Wagon and F-150 to work every day when a perfectly good 1967 Chevy Impala sat in the garage. Somewhere between professional hockey player, guitar player, journalist, mechanic, and automotive designer, he settled on the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) with the hopes of joining a NASCAR pit crew after high school. While there, learning about electronics and the near-forgotten art of carburetor tuning (give him a call before you ditch your “over complicated” Rochester Qudarajet) were equally appealing, and the thrill of racing stock cars and modifieds weekly on the school’s dirt oval team was second to none at the time. And then sometime late in 2009, Matthew caught wind of the Tesla Roadster on YouTube and everything changed. Before it, electric cars we not cool, and they were not fast. A budding and borderline unhealthy obsession with technology would underpin a 12-year career at Roush Industries that would take him from a powertrain technician for the Roush Mustang, to building rollercoasters, NVH engineering, and finally to a state-of-the-art simulated durability lab working with nearly every EV startup you’ve ever heard of, and some you never will. And then it was time to go, and by a stroke of luck Nikola Tesla himself couldn’t have predicted, MotorTrend’s test team was looking for the exact kind of vehicle testing background he had to offer. And with it, his love of cars, art, engineering, and writing all suddenly had a home together. At this point in life, Matthew has developed a love and appreciation for all cars and methods of propulsion. He loves reviewing minivans as much as luxury cars and everything in-between, because the cars people need to haul their kids around are just as important as the ones we hang on our bedroom walls.
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