Yahoo Autos Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept Is an EV With a Hellcat Soundtrack and a Shiftable Transmission
The Dodge brand is undergoing an electric revolution. And at the head of that revolution is this: the Charger Daytona SRT concept. A culmination of everything Dodge expects its EV muscle cars to be, it's our first look at what to expect from the brand's performance division going forward.
With a combination of throwback design cues and futuristic touches, the Charger Daytona SRT is a two-door coupe with a hatchback rear end meant. It's meant to serve as a crystal ball, revealing what future Dodge performance vehicles might look like. Up front you'll see what Dodge calls the R-Wing, a patent-pending front air dam that allows air to pass through and improve downforce. The Fratzog logo, first teased last year, sits in the center illuminated.
At the heart of the Charger Daytona SRT is a new 800-volt electric architecture Dodge calls the Banshee propulsion system. Though technical details have yet to be shared, it uses floor mounted batteries and sends power to all four wheels. All pretty standard until you get to the transmission, a multi-speed unit called the eRupt. According to Dodge it uses "electro-mechanical shifting" via a pistol-grip shifter in the cabin. It's not clear whether that means the driver is actually shifting gears in the transmission or gear-shifting is simulated electronically. Either way, it's a funky, industry-first approach that we're curious to try ourselves.
Aside from the retro shifter, you'll find plenty of cool touches in the cabin. The steering wheel has a flat top and a flat bottom, and features a "PowerShot" push-to-pass button for a temporary boost of horsepower for better acceleration. There are also race-inspired front seats, fold-flat rear seats, a panoramic glass roof, and a carbon fiber floor. Drivers can choose between four drive modes: Auto, Sport, Track and Drag.
Perhaps the most ridiculous piece of tech on the Charger Daytona SRT concept is its simulated engine noise, or what Dodge calls the "Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust." Using an amplifier and tuning chamber at the rear of the car, it puts out a 126-decibel roar that supposedly mirrors the 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 found in the company's lineup of Hellcat models. So even if you don't have a gas-burning engine under the hood, you can still wake up your neighbors in the middle of the night with stationary trips to "redline."
“The Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept exists because performance made us do it,” chief executive officer Tim Kuniskis said in a statement. “Dodge is about muscle, attitude and performance, and the brand carries that chip on its shoulder and into the BEV segment through a concept loaded with patents, innovations, and performance features that embody the electrified muscle of tomorrow."
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