Since its debut last year, Dodge has billed the Charger Daytona as the “world’s quickest and most powerful muscle car.” The performance-oriented EV is slowly working its way into the hands of buyers, and with some now heading to the drag strip, we can finally test the accuracy of that statement.
How does the electric Charger tackle the quarter-mile? For starters, it’s not doing a burnout, because it can’t. But with it’s 5,800-pound mass sitting on a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive powertrain, the Charger probably doesn’t need to heat the tires for a grippy launch. That holds especially true with this being an R/T, developing 496 peak horsepower. Thusly equipped, it should run a mid-12-second quarter-mile time.
Its first competitor in this drag race video from Wheels is a Tesla Model Y. We aren’t sure if it’s a Performance model, but there could be as much as 456 hp turning those white letter tires. By the numbers, this should be a good race.
And it is—especially for team Tesla. Both cars leave the starting line at the same time, but the Model Y immediately puts a car length on the Charger. At half-track the Tesla is still in front, but the Charger seems to gain ground ever-so-slightly. It’s not enough to claim a victory, however. The Model Y crosses the line in 12.54 seconds, versus 12.87 for the Charger. Remarkably, both had virtually identical trap speeds, with the Charger slightly quicker at 111.84 mph. The Tesla reached 111.52 mph.
The second race at least has some sound, courtesy of a Ram 1500 lining up against the Charger. It doesn’t appear to be a howling Hemi, though. Straining our ears, it sure sounds like a 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 giving everything it’s got. That’s supported by the truck’s 17.19 quarter-mile time, reaching just 79.9 mph. It’s an easy win for the Charger Daytona, nearly matching its previous pass with a 12.93 run at 111.68 mph.
It’s worth noting that the Charger Daytona featured here is likely the slowest of all new Chargers, be it the electric Daytona or the forthcoming Charger Sixpack. The Daytona Scat Pack gets 670 hp through its dual-motor powertrain, and the lighter Charger Sixpack will have at least 420 hp from its twin-turbocharged Hurricane inline-six. With rumors of the Hemi V-8 returning to the mix and the 1,000-hp Charger Daytona Banshee still to come, Chargers will only get faster from here.
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