Ownership Update: 3,500 Miles in Our Dodge Charger Daytona EV

• We bought a Dodge Charger Daytona EV to add to our One-Year Road Test fleet.
• A trip to the dealer ensured it correctly alerts pedestrians of its presence.
• We're learning that the Charger is good for a very small group of people.

A big EV with big limitations

The Edmunds One-Year Road Test fleet is almost entirely made up of practical vehicles — the type that someone with a family or things to haul around wouldn't hesitate to drive. Except for our recently supercharged Ford Mustang Dark Horse and the Dodge Charger, that is. The latter is, to put it lightly, unpopular. Not only is it an electric car with a subpar range, but it's also a two-door with a second row that's spacious but difficult to access.

So after a few weeks of walking by it each morning as its bright red paint dulled due to mounting dust layers, I decided to sign it out to see if the Daytona has some untapped charm.

My first impressions were far from positive. For one, it's a very long car. Sitting just over 17 feet long, the Charger is hard to maneuver through tight spots and driveways. Just take a peek at its freshly curbed front passenger side wheel, courtesy of yours truly. More importantly, its seating position is odd. You have to sit very far forward to get a comfortable grip on its controls, its front chairs don't offer much lateral support, and because they don't drop low enough, you feel like you're sitting a few inches higher than you'd want to. Did I mention that this also kills some of your headroom?

OK, so it's too large to be maneuverable but also somewhat cramped. Is it fun?

How does it perform on a twisty road?

Given the Daytona's maximum 670 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque output, you'd think this would be an easy question to answer. Unfortunately, it's a bit more complicated than that. See, the Charger only makes all of its horses in its Drag mode, which, for a reason no one on staff can fathom, also turns off its antilock brake system. So while it can be Hellcat quick, it asks that you take considerable risks. 

On a back road, the sizable Dodge fails to mask its heft. When we weighed it at our test track, it tipped the scales at 5,922 pounds. For context, that's 364 pounds more than a V12-powered Mercedes-Maybach S 680. As such, the Daytona struggles to keep body motions in check through a bend while its upsized Brembo brakes begin to struggle far sooner than they should. Factor in its all-season tires, and you get a car that writes checks in the straights that it can't cash in the corners. At least it's like a muscle car in that sense. 

The truth is that neither you nor the car ends up having a good time. You just want to slow down and cruise between destinations, so I did. 

Put the pitchforks down for a moment

By pure luck, it turns out that I'm pretty much the Daytona's ideal customer. I don't have children to haul around or car seats to install, and my wife and I have more than enough space for us and our stuff. I also have other cars to drive for those days when a back-road blast is a must. Not even the Daytona's lackluster range is a problem. Not only did it cover 255 miles in our Edmunds EV Range Test, but I can plug it in at the office every morning, meaning that not even my daily 50-mile commute is a problem. 

Here's where I found the Charger's hidden charm and why I've logged 1,127 miles in it over the last few weeks. When I leave my house just after dawn each day, I can do so quietly without waking the neighbors. Yet, when I hit LA's deserted highways, I have all the performance I could ever want. Sure, the Charger is far from the most efficient EV ever, but we don't exactly love Hellcats for their fuel efficiency either. 

It's comfortable too. Whether cruising at high or slow speeds, the Charger does an admirable job of soaking up road imperfections. So what if you hear an extra clunk or two from the back end over a big bump? 

While its interior tech remains buggy with an infotainment screen prone to freezing and a backup camera that occasionally stutters, the Daytona's cabin is reasonably quiet at higher speeds, and its seats are pretty comfortable once you dial in your seating position just right.

So, while the Dodge Charger Daytona isn't an exciting electric muscle car or even an exceptionally well-built vehicle, it at least does an excellent job as a grand tourer — that is, as long as your circumstances allow you to overcome its limitations.