Driving an electric car comes with its own quirks—charging stops, range anxiety, and sometimes people not realizing it even is electric. But one Dodge Charger Daytona R/T owner in Minnesota found himself in a situation that goes way beyond confusion. He got pulled over and ticketed for having a “loud exhaust” on a car that doesn’t even have one.
The Incident in Stillwater –
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Mike (@distressed_media) was cruising through Stillwater, Minnesota earlier this summer with a group of fellow enthusiasts when things took a strange turn. He explained to The Drive that he was about eight cars back at a stoplight when the lead vehicle “peeled away loud as hell.”
“I was left at the stoplight with a red light,” Mike told The Drive. “I looked to my left, and there was a state trooper across the street from me. He passed me and whipped a U-turn. Came up behind me as the light turned green and followed me into a gas station and lit me up. Initiated a traffic stop.”
What happened next made little sense.
“Your Exhaust Is Too Loud” –
“The trooper stepped up and immediately told me my car’s exhaust was way too loud and was disturbing the peace,” Mike explained. “I tried telling him it’s an EV and doesn’t have an exhaust or an engine, and he stated he’s not gonna argue with me.”
Despite being told it was an electric vehicle, the officer doubled down. In fact, he came back with more alleged violations—rolling up Mike’s window to check tint, pointing out the missing front license plate, and then citing him for three offenses:
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Loud muffler/loud exhaust
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Missing front and rear plates (Minnesota requires both)
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Public nuisance: annoy, injure, or endanger safety
On top of that, the officer insisted Mike had “been warned for [his] muffler in the past.” Mike clarified that the warning had been for a completely different car—a gas-powered vehicle he previously owned—not his brand-new Charger Daytona. The officer’s reply? “I’m not going to argue with you.”
The Technical Reality –
Here’s the kicker: the Charger Daytona doesn’t even have an exhaust system. Dodge’s innovative Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust system doesn’t rely on traditional speakers to fake engine noise. Instead, it uses a clever setup of chambers beneath the Charger Daytona that pass sound through woofers and mid-range speakers and out dual pipes, creating a richer, more authentic muscle-car rumble. This acoustic design is paired with “force generators” built into the chassis that transmit intentional vibrations when you press the pedal, giving you a tactile feel—through the steering wheel and seats—of power revving under the hood.
Even then, Mike said he wasn’t blasting artificial noise. “I had my car set to AUTO drive mode at the time because I was low on battery, and that setting keeps the synthesized sounds to a minimum,” he told The Drive. The Charger Daytona can “rev” loudly when in Park, and it does make aggressive sounds in SPORT mode, but Mike insisted neither was happening when he was stopped at that intersection.
A Ticket That Doesn’t Exist (Yet) –
As of nearly three months after the incident, Mike says he still hasn’t been able to resolve the ticket. “I have called the courthouse every week for the last 10 weeks trying to schedule the court date/appearance, and still nothing,” he told The Drive. The citation requires a court appearance, but according to him, the case number isn’t even in the court system yet.
That leaves him in legal limbo—technically charged, but with nowhere to pay or fight it.
The Bigger Picture –
The irony here runs even deeper. Just a few weeks before this incident, Stellantis recalled nearly 8,400 Charger Daytona EVs because of a missing amplifier software update. The defect meant the cars didn’t emit the federally required pedestrian warning sound at low speeds, in violation of FMVSS 141. In other words, the company was being forced to make its EVs louder to comply with the law—while Mike was getting a ticket for being “too loud” in a car that wasn’t even making noise.
Source: The Drive
