Dodge Charger Chief Engineer Discusses New Electric Daytona

The Woman Behind the New Charger Says, "It's Fantastic!"

Robert S. Miller May 6, 2024

2024 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack 'First Edition' #2 in Triple Nickel. (Dodge).

The all-new, all-electric 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona coupe is almost here. Being the first battery-electric vehicle (BEV) from the Dodge brand, the Charger Daytona has a lot on riding it. Not only does it push the Charger nameplate into the future, but it also does so with a HEMI® V8 engine. The modern-day Charger has continued to have V8 power as a key part of its performance muscle car formula since 2005. However, this new one will launch exclusively with an electrified powertrain. This move has caused a lot of pushback from loyal Dodge fans.

The Detroit Free Press sat down with Audrey Moore, the Chief Engineer for the Dodge Charger (LB) program, the woman leading the charge into the future for the Charger nameplate, to talk about Dodge’s newest muscle car. Moore, who has been with Chrysler for 25 years, has worked on different Jeep® projects like the Cherokee (KL) launch at the Belvidere Assembly Plant, the popular compact Jeep Renegade, and was the Global Validation lead on the Jeep Compass. Now, she leads the ‘charge’ to market the newest Dodge muscle car.

“I got this wonderful job to work on the next-generation Charger and Challenger, so that brought me into a whole different world of muscle cars and people who love horsepower and drifts and doughnuts and all sorts of things that Jeep people do not do,” she told the Detroit Free Press. “I’ve done the Moab Trail with my Jeeps, and now I’m going to Roadkill Nights and doing drifting and to tracks and stuff, so it’s quite a unique experience between the programs that I’ve been on.”

Dodge’s move to an all-electric muscle car has been several years in the making. With stricter emissions government regulations being pushed, Dodge needed to move in a different direction. Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis mandated that the car meet the high expectations of Dodge consumers. “This needed to be more than an electric vehicle,” Moore said. “It needed to be a muscle car.”

“It’s got to do all those things that Tim has drilled into my head for the last three years. It’s got to sound like a Dodge, drive like a Dodge, feel like a Dodge, look like a Dodge,” Moore said of Kuniskis’ expectations. “I might be a little biased, but the car is fantastic.”

A tough order, considering that we polled our followers on social media and found out that 86% of them would rather opt for the internal combustion engine (ICE) powered 2025 Dodge Charger SIX PACK with the twin-turbocharged HURRICANE inline-six-cylinder engine rather than an electrified Charger Daytona model.

We weren’t the only ones surveying muscle car fans about the next-generation ‘e-muscle’ cars. AmericanMuscle.com recently surveyed 1,000 Americans to see their opinions on electric muscle cars.

The survey found some interesting results. According to American Muscle, 47% of muscle car owners would consider buying an electric vehicle (EV) muscle car, with Ford, Tesla, and Dodge being the top brands that muscle car owners would choose for future e-muscle cars.

American Muscle also found that 52% of people believe that an EV can’t truly be a muscle car, and 56% of current car owners think that the new Dodge Charger Daytona isn’t a real muscle car.

On top of delivering an electric vehicle that can fill the requirements of a modern-day muscle car, Moore saw that EVs hold additional changes prepping for the launch of the vehicle. Unlike ICE vehicles, EV development has to account for charging times and other things that aren’t needed for ICE vehicle development.

Keeping positive with what she and her team have created, Moore explained that the responsibility is all on her. “I’m 100% fully responsible for the vehicle. I’m responsible for design, cost, quality, execution, and timing. The buck kind of stops here with me,” she told the Free Press.

You can read the complete interview on freep.com.

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bill burke May 07, 2024 #1

This lady has a tough challenge on her agenda, but if managed honestly, facing the facts heads up, it can be accomplished.
As a Dodge Hemi Challenger owner I may represent what I believe is a sizable segment of the population that will determine her fate. Let’s look at my profile. I am deeply loyal to the Dodge brand, love it’s performance identity and am not interested in electric cars for myself personally, but can live with their existence at Dodge. I think the new Charger is more an elegantly styled performance coupe but not a true muscle car, which I too can live with going forward. I gravitate to the Six Pack but hope there will be enough Daytona buyers to justify its development and sale. Now she and Dodge has to focus on the Six Pack with every “muscle car” trick in the book to keep loyal Dodge buyers in the game. Paint colors, tires, wheels, bold decals and unique packages to build excitement. It must remain a bit outlandish, rouge.
The hardest part is getting Dodge in racing in a more aggressive and visible way and that includes NASCAR and NHRA. That can work if they stuff a V-8 into the new Charger which I am sure the ruling bodies will accept to get and keep Dodge in the racing game. Hey they bent the rules for Toyota. A limited production run of Hemi Drag Packs and Stock Eliminator factory sponsored Hurricane Six Chargers should be built and campaigned. And build a spec NASCAR race car just like Toyota. Why not? That means big bucks but to sustain the Dodge image, a necessity. Guys like me want to root for Dodge, feel cool in a Dodge, be noticed as a rebel and unless the money is made available to make that happen, this poor women will be a memory along with Dodge. That would be a sad day for guys like me. Tough but doable if you face facts honestly and put the electric agenda on the back burner. That might take some guts too.

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patfromigh May 07, 2024 #2

The E-body cars were late to the pony car party and the 1974 full sized cars had horrendous timing. This Dodge EV beats all of that hands down.

M Moparound May 07, 2024 #3

Am a glass half-full guy, but this situation appears to be a dream that will morph into a nightmare.
Am not against change(good change) and/or taking risks, but failure to test and taking a ram it down the consumer's throats is pure failure in action. The ENERGY technology is just not there, yet.
Maybe we need to research spring wind-up technology next and put baseball cards on the wheel's spokes?

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TripleT May 07, 2024 #4

I don't think you get it. This is not the OEMs ramming it down anyone throats. It is the municipalities. OEMs are just trying to have compliant products ramped up that they can sell by 28'

Before you go "NO NO NO it not 28' its 35'" well yes and No .... the outright Ban don't happen until 35' but the punitive fines start in 28'. This isn't the EPA while they are piling on, it is the CARB state in the USA. THAT IS OVER HALF THE POPULATION. And this is settled law all the way up to the Supreme Court they can set their own standards. Thanks federalism and founding fathers.

Then you will say Charging network... True. Then your will say energy sector and Supply.... True Also. Then you will say rare earth metals....... Yes Sir. Then you will say Consumer acceptance........ OH FOR SURE.

THEY DON"T CARE ..... they are perfectly fine with us peasants having to walk. They certainly embrace the control. Consumers not buying what they are mandating IS NOT a problem to them. To them people shouldn't even own car, and if they are not walking or riding a bike they should be on public transport, not personal transport.

So is this a disaster for those who in CARB states the want personal transport.... YES SIR.... now the OEM are coming around, PHEV whether ICE or EV bias is the immediate future of those in Free States.

M Moparound May 07, 2024 #5

My post, while on this forum was not fully directed on the company itself but moreso where you went, and, yes, to a degree the folks that are rolling over abroad and am worried within Stellantis.
I consider it(the current absurd 'electric movement') oppression.
I agree with everything you stated except one thing you might have overlooked and that is to mention the C.E.O. overseas making the decisions for our favorite company. Sorry, but I disagree with some of his decisions...... and I understand he is bound by certain U.S. standards being imposed to sell vehicles here. Is anyone sitting down to discuss the matter now or are the talks done and we're on cruise-control?
May I ask who within the company is fighting against this 'electrical movement'? Maybe some might roll-over and consider too late. Yes, I am venting towards the whole mess. I didn't ask for this, I do I want it, I didn't vote for it.
I'm not against MOPAR, I am FOR it. As am sure you and many others are.
My wish would be to hit 'pause' on this electrical craze and wait until we can develop a better source of energy to the motors in B.E.V.'s, OR, find yet a better solution. Are there areas that need and/or could use B.E.V.'s sure, but not EVERYWHERE.
To take what we can get attitude is just not good enough.
Unfortunately, am fearful where we're heading is pain and suffering; like you stated over half the population is propagating the matter. This matter seems to make some feel part of a 'feel-good-movement'.
Without going to far on comments, I'll leave it here: 'We are just one generation away from extinction.'