2024 Dodge Charger: Powertrains, specs and performance

What was a controversial prototype in the Charger Daytona SRT Concept has made it through to production almost visually unchanged, though a lot has been added to what we expected from the reborn model. If we’d taken the concept as setting the precedent, the Charger would be all-electric and a coupe only.

While you can have a new Charger in that flavour, electric is one of two power sources and the coupe is one of two body styles, with four disparate powertrains available (based on power output) for now, with more grades to come.

2024 Dodge Charger: Electric and petrol power

So yes, the all-electric Charger can be had as a 670PS (493kW) twin-electric-motor Daytona Scat Pack, a 496PS (365kW) all-electric Daytona R/T, a 550PS (405kW) twin-turbo straight-six Sixpack H.O or a 420PS (309kW) Sixpack S.O. And yes, all can be had in either two- or four-door flavours.

Let’s handle the electric stuff first because actually, it’s most important in European terms. See, the Charger, being a Dodge, which is owned by Stellantis, benefits from the all-new STLA-Large electric architecture. In fact, it’s the first production car to use the hotly-anticipated platform, first previewed in the Peugeot Inception Concept. That means this architecture is certain to see action in everything from Alfa Romeos and Maseratis to Peugeots, Citroens, DSs and all large EVs under the Stellantis umbrella (unless otherwise specified).

How can a Charger’s motor also power a Peugeot and be distinctive? That’s up to Dodge’s engineers but for now, we know the specs. As above, 670PS (493kW) for the top-flight Scat Pack and 496PS (365kW) for the middling R/T, with the caveat that both have Stage 2 and Stage 1 upgrade kits respectively and both have the ‘Powershot’ button pressed. More Daytona models are coming which offer the upgrade kits as an option, contributing 80PS (59kW) and 40PS (29kW) respectively to the total 670PS (493kW) and 496PS (365kW) outputs.

While that large power figure means the Scat Pack Stage 2 will get to 60mph in just 3.3 seconds, it also means it’ll only do 260 miles on a charge. Dom Torretto won’t be too pleased either, given the current fastest Charger isn’t yet a 10-second car, doing the quarter mile in 11.5 seconds, though a higher-performance ‘Banshee’ model is said to be on the way. We’d have gone for Thundercat, ourselves. Also, yes, it does produce an artificial sound that Dodge claims, is as loud on the outside as the old hemis.

The R/T offers 317 miles of range, while not being exactly slow given its own potency. Both will use a battery pack in the region of 100kWh in size.

Unlike some European marques, there has been resistance to the switch to an 800-volt architecture, with the Charger EVs making do with a 400-volt setup for now. Still, it’ll juice up from 20 to 80 per cent in just 27 minutes on a level-three DC CCS fast charger, or in the refreshingly simple terms Dodge has put, 8.1 miles per minute for the Scat Pack and 9.9 miles per minute for the R/T.

That high-performance ‘Banshee’ we mentioned earlier is said to use a more sophisticated, performance-conducive 800-volt architecture, putting it more in line with the likes of the Audi RS E-Tron GT and Porsche Taycan Turbo S.

Introducing the Hurricane, goodbye to the V8

Indeed, Dodge has confirmed that the most powerful variants of the Charger, which are still to come, will be all-electric. So where does that leave the newly-revealed petrol versions, which will arrive next year? 

Because yes, the Charger will get petrol power too, courtesy of the new Hurricane family of straight-six twin-turbo engines, which replace in totality the old V8s and V6s. Pour one out for the Hemi, folks.

Don’t worry, though, these aren’t fly-on-the-wall engines, with 420PS (309kW) and 550PS (405kW) versions available courtesy of a 3.0-litre twin-turbo platform. Is this the new 2JZ? We’re certainly excited to see tuners get hold of the Hurricane and see what it’s made of. 

Though buyers have the option, we can’t help but wonder if a petrol-powered Charger is one Stellantis was begrudging in allowing Dodge to make. It’s certainly the one we expect all the Police forces in the US to be replacing their ageing Hemis with, that’s for sure.

Charger Scat Pack: Big power, big brakes, big tyres, big everything

The Charger Daytona Scat Pack (that’s already feeling a little long) can be ordered with a high-performance Track Package. Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack Track Pack. It’s already gotten worse.

The gear is pretty crazy, though, with range-eating 305-section front and 325-section rear tyres, complemented by massive 16-inch brakes squeezed by six-piston front callipers. Adaptive dual-valve suspension also joins the party with an array of extra sensors to help it do its thing. 

That in combination with the all-new platform's multi-link front and independent rear suspension setup should mean that even the most powerful Chargers have a more sophisticated driving feel than the outgoing cars. Need we remind you of their decades-old Mercedes-flavoured platform heritage?

Donut Mode and Drift Mode: it could only be Dodge

Being an EV and being as sophisticated as it is there’s a lot of electronic wizardry going on. You might have also noticed that there’s no rear-driven Charger. So to get the tyre-smoking action everyone expects from their rebellious muscle car, you’ll need Donut Mode and Drift Mode. From the same company that gave us a car called ‘Jailbreak’, obviously.

Donut Mode is basically a rear-drive, traction-off mode. Drift Mode meanwhile allows the driver to select three levels of slip angle, with specific states of tune for the damping and front-axle to help you along. There’s also good old fashioned Launch Control, as well as Line Lock, which brakes the fronts and spins the rears and Race Prep, which sets up the powertrain for drag racing.

2024 Dodge Charger: Old-school new, four doors and two

So what do we think of the design of the new Charger? We’ve had 18 months give or take with the Concept, from which the coupe has barely deviated. It doesn’t have the bulbous arches of the old Wide Bodies, it doesn’t have quite the same nipped-and-tucked attitude of the old cars, which had all the style and decorum of a bodybuilder bursting out of a too-tight shirt. But it does look cool and is unmistakable a Charger.

Dodge calls it a ‘purified’ design and they’re not wrong. There is a minimalism to it that relies a lot more on a ‘60s-influenced silhouette. We’ll wait to see it in the metal to draw any absolute conclusions but we will say that the scalloped bonnet and ‘R-Wing’ is very clever. The rear is, dare we say it, a little plain?

As for the four-door option, it probably accentuates the slight plainness of this design and has us looking back lovingly at the late-1990s four-door Charger Concept. It does look great, but there could be a little more to it, we think.

Inside the all-new 2024 Dodge Charger

It’s on the inside where Dodge’s old muscle and pony cars were really starting to fall behind, in terms of technology, fit and finish. Happily, the new Charger is as stylish as it is high-tech inside, without doing away with physical buttons – praise be to Lord Iacocca!

The 12.3-inch central touchscreen runs Uconnect 5 and protrudes and pivots towards the driver, while there’s an optional 16-inch driver’s display. There’s a new squircle-shaped steering wheel festooned with buttons, one of which, in the EV at least, says Power Shot, which bumps the power outputs by 40PS (29kW) up to the stated maximum for up to 15 seconds. Those new driving modes are accessible from a control on the other side. 

Overall material and design quality have taken a leap in the new Charger, with striking new designs on the doors and new seats that look as comfy as they do supportive.

So what do you think of the new Dodge Charger? How does the world’s first electric muscle car sit with you? Or do you expect we’ll be seeing Hellcat engine swaps before too long… Let us know your thoughts.