We pushed the electric Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack to its limits, and it outpaces the Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye in reaching 60 mph, though the race becomes much closer beyond that. The Charger’s performance closely aligns with the results of the BMW i4 M50 we tested. However, due to its nearly 900 additional pounds, the Scat Pack is not as adept at handling turns. Although the Charger EV possesses considerable mass, it achieved shorter stopping distances compared to both the Bimmer and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. The 2018 Dodge Daytona Scat Pack is the only car that can fight with it. The car is a big, unusually large electric coupe with two doors. We really mean “hulking.” Five thousand nine hundred twenty-five pounds is what our scales say. Yes, we typed it out as a check because it made the problem seem even worse. A two-door car weighs just under three tons. Challenger V-8 vs. Charger EV But the 670-hp Daytona Scat Pack’s time of 3.3 seconds at 60 mph is faster than the 797-hp Challenger Hellcat Redeye’s time of 3.6 seconds. The Redeye tries to do it by connecting only its back tires, but the Scat Pack has an all-wheel-drive start that helps it. It’s not fair, even though the Challenger only weighs 4514 pounds. After that, Redeye takes over the story because it only takes 7.8 seconds for him to hit 100 mph, while it takes the Scat Pack 8.0 seconds. The Scat Pack is between 11.7 and 11.8 ticks from the quarter-mile mark. But the speed is between 125 and 119 mph, which is Redeye. The Hellcat is said to have a top speed of 203 mph, while the Daytona’s top speed is only 136 mph. We ran a second Challenger Hellcat Redeye on the same track as the Daytona for anyone interested. It took 3.8 seconds longer to get to 60 mph, but at 128 mph, it ran the quarter-mile in 11.6 seconds, faster than the electric two-door. Hyundai, BMW, and Dodge The Hellcat Redeye might not be the best fit for our electric Daytona Scat Pack. From what we’ve learned, the BMW i4 M50, with 536 horsepower and all-wheel drive, is the better choice. They really did lie on top of each other. All of the measures are the same. Sixty miles per hour? Check. It takes 3.3 seconds for both of them. The same goes for going 100 mph in just 8 seconds. The times for the quarter-mile are also tied at 11.7 seconds, but the BMW is faster, going from 120 to 119 mph. You need to delve further to uncover the distinctions. It takes 1.8 seconds for the Daytona to go from 30 to 50 mph and 1.5 seconds for the BMW. It took the Bavarian two seconds to go from 50 to 70 mph, but it took the Dodge 2.4 seconds. At any of these times, you can squeeze the air out of your lungs, which is strange. With our rolling-start test, which goes from 5 to 60 mph, we get rid of any launch control methods. The BMW only needs 3.5 seconds to finish the race, while the Dodge needs 4.1 seconds on this test. Launch control is available on both cars, but the BMW has less speed in this mode. That’s 630 horsepower for the Daytona in launch mode if you don’t press the over-boost PowerShot button on the steering wheel. Likely, forty horsepower can’t handle that spread. Both the Dodge Daytona and the BMW i4 have 630 horsepower, which means they weigh 9.4 pounds per horsepower. That just means that it comes down to software, and the BMW is better at using all of its features faster. Now we’re back at the mass. You might think that the 5925-pound Scat Pack wouldn’t be able to stop well, but you’d be wrong. It takes 151 feet for the Dodge to stop from 70 mph. It works better than the i4 M50, which is 5063 pounds heavy and only needs 154 feet to finish the job. It even does better than the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, which was only 4,849 pounds and needed 153 feet of space. When the stopping speed goes up to 100 mph, these gaps get bigger. The i4 M50 has 308 feet, the Ioniq 5 N has 304 feet, and the Charger Daytona has 297 feet. It’s important to note that the Daytona has big 20-inch Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3 tires with 305/35ZR-20 ratings up front and 325/35ZR-20 ratings in the back. On the other hand, the BMW and Hyundai have 20-inch wheels with smaller Pirelli P Zero PZ4 Elect summer tires. Around a hundredth of a g, all three are on the skidpad. With 0.97 g, the BMW just barely beats the Dodge and Hyundai. Both Hyundai and Dodge get 0.96 g. Those numbers don’t show how the three cars behave when they’re at the edges of their handling. When going around the circle at top speed, the Scat Pack has a lot of understeer, but the smaller Hyundai and BMW do it well and have good orbital balance. Even though the Daytona’s size and width clearly affect how it handles at high speeds, it is still a stunning car with a lot of straight-line thrust and grip. It gets off the line faster than any of its gasoline-powered models that we’ve tested, and it can keep up with two of our favorite high-performance electric cars.
