Step Inside the New Charger Without Leaving Your Couch

When Dodge announced the return of the Dodge Charger, the muscle car community was ecstatic — but some lost that excitement when it was revealed that the Dodge Charger Daytona would be fully electric.

Now, Dodge has introduced a virtual experience to give car enthusiasts a better idea of what the company’s first electric vehicle is truly like. Will the car community change its tune?

Dodge Charger Virtual Experience Revealed

The Dodge Charger Virtual Experience is here, giving consumers a closer look at the Charger Daytona. Hosted by a virtual version of content creator Garrett Reed, you’ll be guided through the Daytona’s features and customize your own model. The Dodge Charger Virtual Experience is already available, but it will be promoted at the New York International Auto Show this month.

“We wanted to come to market in a unique way,” CEO Matt McAlear told Automotive News. “This is an all-new vehicle, there’s nothing carryover about it. […] We said we have to figure out how to get this entire story out to the public. All-new powertrains — everything’s different than we’ve been preaching for the last 10 to 15 years.”

The virtual experience is meant to be explored however you want, rather than a linear guide. You can check out whichever feature you’re most interested in, whether it’s the powertrain and performance, the new look, or even its controversial Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust, which provides a simulates engine noise as though you actually have a V8 under the hood.

McAlear also envisions dealerships utilizing the virtual portal, allowing customers to scan a QR code on the showroom floor. The virtual experience has already been integrated into the training programs of 13 different dealerships across the country.

I personally found the Dodge Charger Virtual Experience to be an underwhelming way to view a vehicle. The low-quality images, as well as the long loading times, didn’t help me to feel immersed in the Daytona. It was a bit entertaining that you had the option to virtually open and close its doors, which I feel wouldn’t be the make or break of deciding if you wanted to buy a new car.

Dodge Charger Daytona Gets Mixed Reactions

Electric vehicles are already a pretty controversial topic in the car community, with some feeling it’s just the next evolution of driving, while others feel we’re losing the heart and soul of vehicles along the way. An electric muscle car is even more shocking, transforming a classically powerful and fuel-hungry type of car into a quiet, environmentally conscious vehicle.

The idea in itself has not won over Dodge many fans despite a promising performance, but seeing the vehicle in person has changed a lot of muscle car enthusiasts’ minds. One Redditor commented that they saw the Daytona at the Milwaukee Auto Show and, despite receiving early criticism from automotive YouTubers, they found they actually liked it themselves. They wrote: “It’s too expensive, but it’s interesting and has potential. At least Stellantis is trying to make an EV that isn’t just another crossover. More variety of EV’s in the US market is a good thing.”

However, a Dodge driver wrote: “I don’t think they judged their target market correctly. Customer[s] that like this brand favor powerful V8s. Not EVs that would kinda sorta sound like V8s.”

Added another: “I don’t think they understand muscle cars. A muscle car isn’t just how fast it can go 0 to 60, it’s a driving experience. The feel, the sound, maybe shifting the gears if you got a manual transmission, it’s not just whirring down the road as quickly as possible.”