Dodge’s Charger Daytona EV Is the Enemy of Perfection

Not everything can be perfect, but some things need to be. The Dodge Charger Daytona certainly needed to be. Given the combined weight of the historical legacies of the Charger and Challenger and recent precedent as the muscle car of choice for yahoos and hooligans, Dodge couldn’t afford to get the new EV version of the Charger coupe and sedan wrong. Unfortunately, in many ways, it did.

Neither Charger that arrived for our Car of the Year event appeared to be assembled with care. One had a misaligned front bumper, the other a hatch. Panel gaps were large, fit and finish uneven. There were also some problematic software bugs. One Charger bricked itself, displaying a “Service Transmission” alert after sitting parked for 15 minutes. Another staffer, who recognized the bug thanks to having a Stellantis EV in the family, recommended unplugging the 12-volt battery or simply locking the car and waiting 30 minutes for the Charger to decide to work again. The former didn’t work, but the latter did. That wouldn’t be the only snafu the Charger experienced. It would also decide at random to not open the trunk, forcing editors to fold down the rear seats and crawl through into the hatch area to retrieve their belongings.

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As if that weren’t bad enough, the Charger’s infotainment system felt unfinished, as well. It’s slow to respond, and many functions, like the car’s performance battery conditioning, drift mode, and ability to adjust “creep” or set the battery charge level, are buried under menus. Worryingly, neither car appeared to have a functioning route planner, either.

That’s a problem because the Charger’s charging performance is unimpressive. We won’t lose any sleep over a muscle car that can’t clear 200 miles when fully juiced (we can’t recall a single contemporary V-8-powered Mustang capable of that range feat), but the Charger’s DC fast-charging performance is abysmal, adding just 66 miles in its first 15 minutes on the charger and needing 40 minutes to recharge from 5 to 80 percent. As quite a few judges noted, a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is nearly at 80 percent charge after 15 minutes on a fast charger.

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Despite the laundry list of problems, we couldn't help but love parts of the Charger Daytona experience. In fact, the love was so strong that against all odds it made it to the finalist round. “So much fun!” Detroit editor Alisa Priddle said after tackling the curviest sections of finalist loop. “I had a smile on my face the whole time; the Charger is surprisingly nimble for such a behemoth with gobs of power at the ready.” It rides well, too, largely ironing out road imperfections due to a combination of its steamroller-width tires, three-ton curb weight, and semi-active suspension system. And it’s easy to live with day to day, thanks to its good city and highway driving manners, massively spacious cabin and cargo area, and 11-kW Level 2 charging capability.

We also adored just looking at it. The car’s styling faithfully pays homage to past Chargers while advancing design with innovative features like its R-Wing, which blends the visual menace necessary in a muscle car with aerodynamic necessities. Then there are the practical touches, such as the striping that continues over its standard glass roof and a large rear hatch that helps give the Charger a distinctive fastback profile.

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The more time we spent with the Charger Daytona, the more we became convinced that underneath those poorly fit panels and behind the maddening software glitches sits a fundamentally good car. But for every flash of brilliance there was an equally loud, “What on Earth were they thinking?” moment. The Charger Daytona isn’t perfect, and unfortunately for Dodge, it needed to be.

This review was conducted as part of our 2026 Car of the Year (COTY) testing, where each vehicle is evaluated on our six key criteria: efficiency, design, safety, engineering excellence, value, and performance of intended function. Eligible vehicles must be all-new or significantly revised.