Electric Muscle vs. V8 Soul: Charger Daytona EV vs. Challenger!

Edmunds pits the new all-electric Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack against the V8 Challenger Scat Pack it is meant to replace, testing whether synthesized exhaust sound and instant torque can stand in for six decades of Hemi V8 identity. The comments are split just as sharply as the reviewers, skeptics call the fake engine noise a gimmick, while at least one real owner insists the EV is objectively quicker and better-handling. Depreciation has already reshaped the value argument since launch. Watch to see where Edmunds lands.

Dodge spent decades building an entire identity around the sound and feel of a V8, then announced the Charger was going fully electric, and the reaction from the brand’s own fan base was somewhere between skepticism and outright grief. Edmunds set out to answer the only question that actually mattered to Mopar loyalists: could an electric Charger Daytona Scat Pack possibly measure up to the V8 Challenger Scat Pack it is meant to replace? The numbers on paper favor one car. The verdict from people who have actually bought and driven the electric version tells a considerably more complicated story.

Same Name, Very Different Machine

On paper, Edmunds’ comparison should be straightforward: same nameplate lineage, same “Scat Pack” performance badge, same intended buyer. In practice, reviewer Brian Wong is comparing two almost entirely different vehicles wearing a shared brand identity, a 6.4-liter naturally aspirated V8 Challenger against a battery-electric Charger Daytona that swaps displacement and cylinder count for instant torque and all-wheel drive. The video’s own chapter breakdown, moving from raw numbers through driving impressions on each car separately before landing on Edmunds’ final take, signals just how differently these two “Scat Packs” actually need to be evaluated.

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The Fake Engine Noise Problem

The detail that draws the most immediate reaction in the comments is Dodge’s Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust, a system that pipes a synthesized engine note out through real exhaust-style chambers on the electric Charger Daytona in an attempt to replicate a V8’s presence. “The fake engine noise makes me LOL,” one commenter wrote, echoing a common reaction that treats the feature as a gimmick papering over the absence of an actual combustion engine. Others in the comments came to its defense, one owner describing how the system vibrates the car at idle and provides real audible feedback under throttle that helps judge acceleration mid-corner, a far more functional take than the skeptics give it credit for. Whether that feedback loop genuinely replaces the mechanical sensation of a real engine winding out is exactly the kind of question this comparison cannot fully settle, and probably will not settle for years.

What the V8 Still Does That Electric Cannot Replace

Even commenters who find plenty to like about the electric Charger keep circling back to the same conclusion about the outgoing V8 Challenger. “Yeah, that V8 can’t go away, that beautiful V8 is what makes this car shine. It sounds so beautiful,” one wrote, a sentiment echoed by several others who argue no amount of synthesized sound or instant electric torque fully replaces the visceral, mechanical character of a 6.4-liter Hemi under full throttle. It is less an argument against the EV’s capability and more a statement about what Dodge is actually trading away by retiring the V8 Challenger.

A Different Read From Actual Owners

Not every comment falls on the skeptical side. One self-described owner who traded a 2022 Hellcat for the Scat Pack EV called it “unequivocally” quicker and better-handling than the V8 car it replaced, while acknowledging the reviewer’s specific criticism about numb, overly assisted steering feedback under hard driving. That owner’s broader point, that an all-wheel-drive EV needs to be driven differently than its combustion-engine sibling, letting the electronics manage stability rather than fighting them, reframes some of Edmunds’ criticism as a difference in driving technique rather than a flaw in the car itself.

Are These Cars Even Being Cross-Shopped Right

Several commenters pushed back on the comparison’s framing entirely. One argued the electric Charger Daytona Scat Pack should be measured against the V8 Hellcat Redeye instead, given the two land at closer MSRPs than the base Scat Pack does. Another made a broader point that applies to nearly every muscle car comparison: the overwhelming majority of Challengers and Chargers sold over the years were never taken to a track at all, making daily-driving comfort and street-light acceleration far more relevant to real buyers than lap times most owners will never attempt to set.

Depreciation Has Already Kicked In

One comment adds a wrinkle that changes the entire value conversation: “Those charger Daytonas are super super cheap now, and the proposition for them is pretty vastly different than when they were new.” Rapid depreciation on a genuinely new nameplate is not unusual, but it does mean that whatever verdict Edmunds reached at launch pricing may already read differently for a buyer shopping a heavily discounted example today, arguably a better deal, and a very different conversation, than the one this video was originally built around. It is a reminder that even a clean, one-to-one platform comparison like this one cannot fully separate the car itself from the price a given buyer actually paid to get into it.

Edmunds’ Own Verdict, and Why It Matters

Edmunds has built its reputation on exactly this kind of unglamorous, buyer-first comparison, prioritizing real driving impressions and interior usability over marketing copy, and Brian Wong’s structured breakdown here, numbers, driving impressions for each car, interior, verdict, reflects that house style. It is a small addition to the conversation, but exactly the kind of real-world nuance a launch-day review cannot fully capture. One commenter thanked the team directly for being “honest and transparent” about where the EV falls short. For a segment as emotionally loaded as Dodge’s muscle car lineup, that kind of unsentimental comparison matters more than usual, because how this specific car is received may well shape whether Dodge, or any other manufacturer, keeps betting on electric muscle at all.

What Happens Next for Dodge’s Muscle Car Identity

Whatever side of this debate a viewer lands on, the comparison itself marks a real inflection point for a brand that spent sixty years selling V8 displacement as its core identity. Whether the Fratzonic exhaust and instant electric torque of the Charger Daytona eventually win over skeptics, or whether Dodge ends up bringing a Hellcat-badged V8 back as one owner in the comments predicts, this video captures the exact moment the muscle car conversation started needing an entirely new vocabulary to describe what actually counts as a Dodge anymore.

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