Feast your eyes on the only new full-size coupe offered for sale in America, the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona. Its bodyshell will be offered with four doors next year. Until then, it will only have two. But here’s the thing. While the 2024 Charger Daytona replaces the 2023 Charger and Challenger in Dodge showrooms, it comes purely as a battery electric vehicle.

Dodge is known for outrageous muscle car performance from supercharged Hemi V-8s. Ditching them is something its fans are not asking for; the government is. Yet the new 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona offers hell-raising performance equal to or better than what’s come before, wrapped in a familiar package. But you fuel it with electric power, not petroleum. Oh, sure, Dodge will eventually offer less-expensive internal combustion engine models late next year, powered by a 550-horsepower 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged Hurricane High Output inline six. But that ain’t no Hemi.

If you think about it, it’s positively subversive.

Stylistically, the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona is a contemporary take on the 1968 Charger. Yet its design, like its powertrain, is also a sleight of hand. At 207 inches long and 80 inches wide, it’s five inches longer than the outgoing Dodge Challenger and two inches wider than last year’s Widebody models. It’s a full-size coupe. Yet it doesn’t look that large. The front end seems to replicate the 1968 Charger’s grille. But it’s actually shade from the front-end spoiler. And although it looks like a sedan, it’s actually a hatchback, with as much as 38.5 cubic feet of cargo space.

Offered in R/T or Scat Pack trim, its interior is thoughtfully designed, yet uses hard plastics not commensurate with its price, much like the Dodge Charger it replaces. But the seats provide both comfort and bolstering. Legroom is impressive in both rows, with back seat passengers getting more than 37 inches of legroom.

The driver faces a 10.25 or 16-inch instrument cluster, depending on trim, alongside a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen with an incredibly wonky interface. You’ll also get wireless smartphone charging, USB-C ports, wireless Apple Car Play and Android Auto. There’s even a pistol-grip shifter in a nod to its Woodstock-generation forebears. But the most important components come under the skin, and it’s here that Dodge has truly built an honest-to-God American muscle car powered by electrons. (Speaking of which, recharging from 20% to 80% charge status takes just over 24 minutes using a Level 3 DC fast charger. A Level 2, 240-volt charger will recoup up to 80% in 6.8 hours.)

Built on an all-new platform, the 2024 Charger Daytona starts with the R/T, which generates 496 horsepower and 404 pound-feet of torque. That’s good for a 4.7-second 0-60 mph run. Scat Pack models boost the juice to 670 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. This provides a 0-60 mph time of 3.3 seconds and an 11.5-second quarter-mile. Drive modes include Auto, Eco, Sport, Wet/Snow and Valet. Scat Pack models add Track, Drag and Custom along with Drift and Launch Control modes. There’s also a PowerShot button that adds 40 horsepower for 10 seconds for an extra punch of acceleration. All-wheel drive is standard and regenerative braking effort, which captures energy generated while decelerating, is adjustable.

As you can tell from its numbers, either Charger Daytona is very much an asphalt-eating beast. But the fierce, throbbing vibrations that accompanies a Hemi V-8 are absent. But in a fit of nostalgia mongering, the car retains its demonic roar and rumble mixed with an EV hum that is incredibly intoxicating. While it’s an aural charade, it’s wholly appropriate for the vehicle and its performance.

The Charger Daytona is very quick. Yet surprisingly, brake and steering feel are fairly light, although it’s easy to drive smoothly. The thick steering wheel feels great, and its controls are easy to use. The paddle shifters increase or decrease regenerative braking, while the different drive mode can be selected without taking your hand off the wheel. Proving smooth, quiet and refined in Auto Mode, it changes noticeably once in Sport mode. The exhaust soundtrack turns on, the steering tightens while the suspension firms up. But things really get interesting on Scat Pack models. They have Track and Drag modes that markedly turns up the performance wick while turning off the traction control.

The one ergonomic faux pas is the wiper control. It turns on by rotating the end of the turn signal stalk, which is also the stalk used to flash the headlamps. So, it’s too easy to inadvertently turn on the wipers when flashing the headlights. It’s not a good look. The audio system is sufficient, but the exhaust is the only soundtrack you’ll really need, as it can drown out your partner who complains about your driving too fast.

Prices for the R/T at $59,595, with the Scat Pack costing $73,190, not including a $1,995 destination charge. Both models will be eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit when leased.

It makes for a unique full-size car. Yet putting an electric driveline into a full-size slab of American muscle is a slight of hand few of its buyers want. Certainly, the online venom will flow freely, even though none will actually try it. If they did, they’d find little to hate and much to love. It’s green as well as mean.

Who woulda thunk it?

2024 Dodge Charger Daytona EV Coupe

Base price: $61,590-$75,185

Powertrain: Permanent magnet synchronous motors

Horsepower: 456 -670/404 pound-feet

EPA-rated range: 308 miles (R/T), 241 miles (Scat Pack)

Recharge time (Level 2, 5-80%): 6.8 hours

Length/Width/Height: 207/80/59 inches

Ground clearance: 5.5 inches

Payload: 1,002 pounds (R/T), 1,183 pounds (Scat Pack)

Cargo capacity: 23-37 cubic feet

Towing capacity: 3,500 pounds

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