2026 Dodge Charger Daytona Sedan Review

With muscle-car styling and performance to match, the 2026 Dodge Charger Daytona is an exciting family sedan.

Perry Stern | 

Oct 30, 2025 | 8 min read

Perry Stern

Whether you're looking at the late 1960s or just a few years ago, the Dodge Charger has played a significant role in the American muscle-car landscape. However, times change, and while the modern Charger retains a look clearly influenced by its past, the muscle now comes from powerful electric motors rather than a Hemi V8.

The electric Charger Daytona arrived for the 2024 model year, and for 2026, the promised four-door variant joins the two-door coupe. The Scat Pack is the only available trim level, boasting up to 670 horsepower from its dual-motor, all-wheel-drive electric powertrain.

Dodge differentiates the Charger Daytona from other EVs by billing the powerful sedan as a muscle car. Like a classic muscle car, you take the good with the bad.

Here, significant horsepower ensures thrilling performance, but the ride can be unsettling on rough roads, and the weight of the drivetrain impacts the handling. The Charger also features a simulated muscle-car sound from the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust system, which may not appeal to some people.

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About the 2026 Dodge Charger Daytona Sedan

The 2026 Dodge Charger Daytona sedan is available exclusively as a Scat Pack model with a base price of approximately $64,000, including the destination charge for shipping the EV from the production facility in Canada's Windsor, Ontario, to a dealership.

For this Charger Daytona sedan review, Dodge provided me with a test vehicle equipped with Triple Nickel paint, the Plus Group package, the Blacktop package, the Sun & Sound package, the Carbon and Suede package, and the Track package. The manufacturer's suggested retail price was $80,455, which included a $1,995 destination charge. I evaluated the car in southeastern Michigan near Detroit.

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2026 Charger Sedan is a Modern-Day Muscle Car, Inside and Out

The Dodge Charger Daytona stands out visually from other four-door sedans on the market, beautifully incorporating styling cues influenced by Chargers from the late 1960s. Surprisingly, the Charger Daytona coupe and sedan have the same silhouette and nearly identical dimensions.

Upon initial inspection, the Charger Daytona's interior appears upscale thanks to high-end materials. For example, my test car featured leather, suede, carbon fiber, and stylish contrasting stitching. The configurable ambient lighting added a high-tech vibe, as did the 16.0-inch digital instrumentation panel and 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment display. The thick steering wheel and high-back bucket seats add a sporty flair to the cabin.

However, on closer inspection, some elements weren't as premium as I first thought. The carbon-fiber accents have a brittle feel, and Dodge covers many of the lower cabin surfaces in hard plastic. Most troubling was the climate-control panel below the infotainment screen. When I pressed one of its soft-touch controls, the entire panel moved.

As part of the Carbon and Suede package, my Charger Daytona featured stylish front performance seats wrapped in leather and suede. They felt stiff at first, but I found them to be quite comfortable over time, including for longer stints behind the wheel.

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The addition of rear doors to the Charger Daytona sedan provides much easier access to the back seat than in the coupe. However, the available space for passengers remains the same. Luckily, that means plenty of legroom and headroom, and two adults could easily spend an extended period in the rear seat. Add a third back-seat passenger, and the less comfortable middle seating position will work for shorter trips.

Aside from the gear selector and start button, the center console is devoid of physical controls and offers ample space for storing smaller items. Additionally, Dodge added a sizable bin below the center armrest. A wireless phone charger under the dashboard nicely holds your phone in place while driving.

Beneath the large rear hatch, the Charger Daytona sedan offers plenty of cargo space. However, due to the Charger's rakish roofline and the electric drivetrain underneath the car, the trunk is somewhat shallow.

Still, with 22.7 cubic-feet of space, there is enough room for a few suitcases or other gear. Fold the 60/40-split rear seat down for a total of 37.4 cu-ft of space, which can accommodate larger items. The Charger also has an available front trunk, although it won't hold much more than the car's charging cable.

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Advanced Tech for Entertainment and Safety in Charger Daytona

The 2026 Dodge Charger Daytona has the latest version of the company's UConnect 5 infotainment system. Presented on the 12.3-inch touchscreen display, it features standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Dodge Connect connected services, Amazon Alexa integration, navigation, and an Alpine premium sound system. Shortcuts to media, climate functions, navigation, and the vehicle app list remain consistently on the left side of the screen for quick access.

Overall, the tech is straightforward to use and easy to program. One of the cooler features is the Performance Pages display, which shows gauges, g-forces, the propulsion system, and — my favorite — performance timers. You can measure your acceleration to 60 or 100 mph, and testing how fast the Charger is can be addictive. Make sure to drive safely and, of course, legally if you do choose to test those acceleration times.

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Dodge equips all Charger Daytona variants with the typical advanced driver-assistance systems features you would expect to find on a modern EV. Adding confidence to the drive are multiple cameras, which provide views from the front tire to the curb and blind-spot views in the digital instrumentation. The test car's surround-view camera made maneuvering the Charger a breeze.

Active Driving Assist is also standard. It utilizes adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assist to provide semi-autonomous driving. I put the system through its paces on I-94 near Ann Arbor, Michigan, the biggest major highway in the area. With subtle steering corrections, the Charger stayed in its lane, even around curves. Additionally, the speed and distance to the car ahead remained constant.

However, this is not a hands-free system. If the sensors in the steering wheel don't detect your hand on the steering wheel, the tech will eventually stop operating.

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Charger Sedan Delivers the Complete Muscle-Car Experience

The 2026 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack comes with a dual-motor electric drivetrain delivering 630 horsepower — 670 horsepower when you push the Power Shot button — and 627 pound-feet of torque. According to Dodge, the Charger can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in just 3.3 seconds.

The EPA estimates that this EV consumes energy at a rate of 47 kilowatt hours (kWh) per 100 miles of travel while supplying a maximum driving range of 223 miles. During my evaluation, the trip computer indicated an energy consumption of 40 kWh per 100 miles — in this case, lower is better — making it more efficient than predicted. Using a 240-volt home charging station, it takes about 10 hours to recharge the car.

The throaty exhaust note of the previous-generation Charger was a significant part of the experience, and Dodge attempted to replicate it in the Charger Daytona. That job falls to the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust, which generates an electronic exhaust note for a car that has no exhaust system.

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Unfortunately, the sound the Charger Daytona makes on startup is more like a video game, and the sound accompanying idle and acceleration just didn't seem to fit. I applaud Dodge for trying to capture that aspect of the muscle-car driving experience, but it didn't work for me, so I set the Charger to Stealth mode, which turns off all exterior sounds.

I knew the Charger was a strong performer, but when I entered the freeway shortly after getting behind the wheel for the first time, I was astounded at how quickly the big car got moving. Response to accelerator input is immediate, and even at highway speeds, just a tiny push of the right pedal will press you back into the seat.

Adding to the fun is a button on the steering wheel that says "Power Shot." Press this, and you get a 10-second boost of 40 more horsepower for extra oomph when passing on a two-lane road or showing off to the neighbors. When you already have 630 horsepower, there aren't many scenarios requiring that additional power, but driving enthusiasts will love the idea.

For the most part, the Charger handles well, with responsive steering and stout brakes. Still, the Charger Daytona Scat Pack weighs in at almost 3 tons, and it can be challenging to control that much mass when pushing the car hard in the corners of a twisty two-lane road. The weight also makes the Charger feel unsettled on rougher pavement, especially at highway speeds.

Perry Stern

Is the 2026 Dodge Charger Daytona a Good Electric Vehicle?

If you're looking for the robust power of an American muscle car with the benefits of driving an EV, the 2026 Charger Daytona is an obvious choice. Rivals such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT, Kia EV6 GT, and Tesla Model 3 Performance can deliver similar thrills, but none of those have the visual presence of the Charger Daytona.

It may be heavy, and the simulated exhaust may not appeal to everyone's taste. Still, there's no denying that extreme speed and standout styling make the Dodge Charger Daytona an appealing option for muscle-car enthusiasts.

Perry Stern

As a small child, Perry was constantly playing with toy cars and trucks, and that enthusiasm for anything motorized with wheels never faded. After college, he moved to Seattle and began his long automotive career working in an automotive consulting firm, helping customers choose the right vehicle for their needs. In the late 1990s, Perry joined Microsoft to work on CarPoint, part of the new Microsoft Network (MSN). He went on to become editor of the site, remaining on staff for 20 years before venturing out on his own. Today, in addition to his work on Capital One Auto Navigator, he still contributes to MSN, as well as J.D. Power, TrueCar.com, and U.S. News & World Report. Perry lives in the small town of Dexter, Michigan, with his wife and dog, and he still smiles when he sees his 2006 Mazda Miata in the garage.