It’s not a great time to be developing EVs for America. Between flattening consumer demand and the repeal of EV-friendly policies, almost all automakers are reevaluating their plans. Already, several future models have been cancelled, and the headwinds facing EVs in America might’ve just resulted in another casualty. Earlier this week, Mopar Insiders reported that the Charger Daytona SRT Banshee might not see the light of day, and while revisions to Stellantis’ EV plan aren’t exactly unexpected, the potential death of a halo car is certainly noteworthy. As the report states:
According to internal whispers from supplier channels, the upcoming 800-volt Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Banshee, a range-topping, all-electric halo car for Dodge’s EV strategy, has been axed.
We reached out to Stellantis for comment, and as you’d probably expect, the official statement is relatively vague. However, it does state that plans for future SRT models are also under review, which means that the future of the Charger Daytona SRT Banshee is uncertain.
Stellantis continues to reassess its product strategy to align with consumer demand. Our plan ensures we offer customers a range of vehicles with flexible powertrain options that best meet their needs. With the great news announced in July that Stellantis is bringing back its iconic SRT performance division (Street and Racing Technology), it follows that we are also reviewing the plan for future SRT vehicles.
By now, it’s not controversial to say that the initial Charger Daytona models are a bit disappointing. A Scat Pack without a burnout mode, a weird incident involving Edmunds’ unit accelerating on its own, all the backlash that came with America’s muscle car brand going electric, and the prospect of a $75,185 coupe that can be outrun by a $67,800 Hyundai crossover. However, our industry sources who’ve been correct about other Stellantis developments have turned up more details around the purported range-topping model, and they all add up to something promising.
For one, let’s start with power. It’s no secret that the hi-po electric Charger was slated to run an 800-volt architecture with substantially more power than the old supercharged Hellcat. While some initial estimates pegged the figure at north of 800, that’s now looking like a lowball figure. Allegedly the real slated output was well north of 1,000 horsepower, a figure strong enough to match or surpass what we’ve seen from the Tesla Model S Plaid, Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, and Lucid Air Sapphire. Considering both the Taycan Turbo GT and the Lucid Air Sapphire can run from zero-to-60 mph in less than two seconds, all signs point towards the top-shelf electric Charger having hypercar performance, likely for under $100,000.
Then there were the purported battery advancements. Promising significantly greater energy density and longevity, solid-state batteries have long been considered the silver bullet of the EV space, and Stellantis previously announced a partnership with Factorial to use cells with quasi-solid electrolytes. Sure, these aren’t true solid-state batteries, but the promised figures were serious. Energy density of 375 Wh/kg, and 18-minute fast charging from 15 to 90 percent in Stellantis’ proposed applications. Allegedly, these cells weren’t just supposed to come in the electric Charger SRT, but also in the now-canceled Ram battery electric pickup truck. It would’ve been an industry first, and yet, it looks like we’re going to have to wait.
So if the project has been cancelled, what went wrong, especially with the Charger Daytona SRT so late in development? Well, it’s no secret that sales of the regular Charger Daytona haven’t exactly been brisk. Dodge only managed to sell 4,299 of the things through the first half of the year, and the entry level R/T trim has been discontinued on account of slow sales. Right now, it seems like all hands are on deck for the six-cylinder version of the Charger, due to hit showrooms soon.
While a halo car goes a way to reviving the image of something that arrived with a messy landing, Dodge built its entire brand for the past few years on combustion-powered muscle. The people who buy Dodge cars know what they want, and a seriously quick EV probably isn’t it for most of them. Besides, even the old SRT Hellcat wasn’t a volume seller, because the Chargers you see everywhere are ones with the Pentastar V6. An entry level model puts butts in seats, and that seems to be what Dodge is working towards.
Will the Charger Daytona SRT ever drop? At this point, nothing’s certain. It’s possible that in a few years, Dodge will take the project off the shelf, iron out the calibration, and release it. At the same time, Stellantis is revising its strategy for V8s, and while the Charger would make a likely recipient, even the six-cylinder combustion-powered variant runs on a new electrical architecture that would likely require significant engineering work to control a V8. Either way, it sounds like what could’ve been might’ve been great.
Top graphic image: Dodge
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While the anti-EV’er were so busy telling us that there isn’t enough electricity for EV’s and the GOP were putting in as many blocks as possible to stop the growth of charging stations, the Bitcoin and AI companies took massive amounts of power off the grid for their own use, causing a real shortage and huge power price increases. Corporations are so afraid to stand up to the bullying from the administration and instead are protecting their C suite lifestyles and doing what they are told.
Its unfortunate that the ‘merica first maga’s are actively cutting off progress of science and medicine, attacking education and ensuring that we will be falling even further behind. China is rapidly overtaking the EV world and our brightest are being lured away by the EU with funding. China pushed Germany off the top ten list of most innovative nations and is slowly moving up.
Lord, please just give us those wheels…..so hot
My guess is we see a 2.0T powered base model, and eventually a Hemi V8 halo version.
That’s gonna be a lonely-looking powerplant under that hood
It won’t be lonely, the service tech can fit in there with it.
So are they just going to drop the EV completely from these and just go back to ICE? Wouldn’t be shocked if they bring back the hemi in these also. I question why the they even stopped the previous gen of challenger and charger those still seemed to be selling decent.
The Dodge Daytona Vanishee.
Stellantis products are terribly engineered and built. Canceling a product is as close to a win as they can get.
And yet, Dodge continues to still sell the Hornet. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve seen one in the flesh driving on an actual honest-to-goodness road.
It is probably for the best. The redneck demographic these cars were aimed at have been politically brainwashed to hate on electrons, so sales for this vehicle would probably have been super low.
The bigger issue is if the knowledge they gained by designing and engineering this vehicle is now lost, or can they leverage that knowledge in the years to come to develop future EVs when the political climate shifts. Also Dodge it just one division of the massive Stellantis group – so is the knowledge gained developing this vehicle going to end up being used in some future Maserati EV? Could be interesting.
They do need to keep that mass in-check though. Personally I think that was the single biggest problem with this car. Too big and too heavy. Oh, and the endless quality problems known to affect Stellantis products.
I can only assume this means an AWD Hellcat Charger is coming instead
Eventually (hopefully) those who come to power will continue the desire for an alternatively fueled America going into the middle of the 21st century. I’m a big fan of EV’s and the automakers who are building competent and competitive platforms will be able to weather the storm of the “pushback” from the current administration.
Were the goals of “All EV’s Only by 2035” a bit of a pipe dream? Sure, we can argue that for as much as the day is long. The thing is, EV owners are enjoying their ability to have a fully fueled vehicle every day. They are seeing the benefits of lower maintenance costs, instant torque, and not lose any of their current abilities that an ICE powered vehicle can provide.
Ford/GM/Hyundai/VW/etc. are companies that are splitting the tight rope of ICE and EV development in a positive way. We see these companies investing in new ICE platforms, but they are almost entirely just extension of current designs to help save on costs. They are also developing and increasing their battery and EV technology to give those customers better options and be ready for when the “Green Wave” comes around the bend.
Stellantis, for all their worth, has failed to do either. The Hurricane, while being a pretty cool engine, is a bit of a head scratcher for me in the 2020’s. Developing an all new, I6TT engine not based on any former architecture? If you wanted a Turbo 6, why not just Turbo the Pentastar? Make it a Hot V and save on some development costs. Continue Hemi development so it can be compliant for CARB states for the next few years, right?
Then Stellantis haphazardly develops a new set of “shared platforms” that mean developing a chassis that can handle both EV and ICE requirements and stretch thin engineering teams to make a competent EV platform. They slap together some batteries, motors, and half finished code into a cool body with an electronic beatbox and say “Here’s the new Charger!” expecting us to lay down at their feet and praise them for it. They totally missed their buying audience, and somehow expected us to be in love with a Dodge EV that’s beaten by competitors above AND below it’s class. All the while we’re subjected to their build quality similar to a late 80’s Lada.
Now they cancel the only interesting model of the lineup, the car they should have launched with to build excitement (and share the 800V architecture across the board) and any buzz on the EV Charger. They either designed this thing to fail from the start, or they had European Engineers only and told them to gauge the US market by doing the opposite of Social Media, Allpar, and every local clubs opinions and thoughts on the Dodge brand. I mean seriously, how can a giant corporation fuck up this bad?
I do think there was some form of self sabotage. I’m not sure where it came from. Maybe it was just willful ignorance/sticking their fingers in their ears and going I CAN’T HEAR YOU! Maybe the American parts of the company let the MAGA brainrot take hold a little too hard (I mean, look at the people that are in charge, they might as well be Trump cabinet picks), and intentionally ruined aspects of the engineering on the EVs and Hurricane so they could say they failed and force V8s back into everything. Who knows.
But I absolutely believe that this product was intentionally or semi intentionally ruined in one way or another. I just have no other explanation for how they could fuck it up so badly.
After a quick search, looks like the Charger Daytona length, width, and wheelbase are about the same as the Pacifica (which is insane). Maybe they can use that sunk-cost R&D and tooling on the skateboard to create some awesome EV minivans! Maybe there’s enough room to fit a range extender in there too.
Even more insane when you consider the Charger Daytona is more than a thousand pounds heavier than the Pacifica.