An electric vehicle with flex — and intentionally excessive engine noise — keeps rolling toward its release in the form of the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT. The YouTube channel HotCars reported on this concept EV muscle car's showing at the Detroit Auto Show in September.
The model, which debuted in 2022 and is expected to be in production as early as 2024, is the carmaker's electrified bid to "save the muscle car," as its original presentation stated.
It offers an up-to-800-volt "Banshee" power system that's reportedly faster than the vaunted Hellcat engine of Dodge's traditional Chargers and Challengers. According to Car and Driver, the voltage makes the new Charger like other performance EVs, including the Porsche Taycan.
The new Dodge's most striking feature, however, is its growling "Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust" whose sound received an upgrade after its initial showing last year. At up to 126 decibels, it's as loud as its muscular predecessors.
"Air flows through an actual piped exhaust system generating a sound that goes through an amplifier and tuning chamber," MotorTrend explained.
The Robb Report wrote, "It's a completely unnecessary feature, of course, but also an olive branch to the kind of enthusiasts who feel that a muscle car must be loud."
InsideEVs says the car also apparently has a silent mode.
However you feel about the need for noise, it's significant that it had to be added because electric motors run mostly in silence and without actual exhaust.
The lack of tailpipe pollution is an advantage of EVs over vehicles that create pollution that causes the Earth to overheat.
The new Charger's other differences from its internal combustion counterparts (which are reportedly being discontinued) should include all-wheel drive and regenerative braking, per Car and Driver.
Reactions from muscle-car diehards have been mixed, especially regarding the simulated sounds. Yet comments seem generally positive about the looks and power of Dodge's "muscle of tomorrow."
"Honestly, props to them for sticking with what makes them different and doing it their way," said a commenter on one YouTube video.
"I like it but not the fake engine sound," wrote a commenter on another video.
"A Charger that needs a charger," joked a third commenter.
"I don't see the issue with this strategy," wrote a commenter on an Electrek article. "People buy muscle cars because they want the muscle car experience … These gimmicky features probably won't stay around forever … but if they help EV uptake in the brand new EV muscle car market, then they can only be a good thing."
So can an EV be a muscle car? Sounds like it.
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