The Dodge Charger Daytona weighs as much as a Kia EV9

Electric cars are heavy. It’s not really a surprise. What’s surprising is that the new Dodge Charger Daytona EV weighs 5,838 pounds, which is equivalent to a Kia EV9 long-range all-wheel drive, three-row electric crossover.

The base EV9, with a smaller battery and a single motor in the back, weighs just over 5,000 pounds. Kia offers between 5,800 and 5,886 pounds for the fully loaded EV9 GT-Line model depending on equipment. So the Charger Daytona in R/T and Scat Pack trims weighs as much as a fully loaded SUV that seats six to seven people. Needless to say, the Charger Daytona doesn’t seat that many passengers.

While the old internal combustion Dodge Charger was a big car, the new Charger Daytona is even bigger. The new Charger Daytona Scat Pack is slightly larger in wheelbase, width and height than the old Charger Scat Pack Widebody, and notably, 5.5 inches longer overall. Its predecessor was not a lightweight car at 4,361 pounds, but the addition of a large 100.5 kWh net battery (93.9 kWh usable) and electric motors front and rear have Significantly increased weight. The Charger Daytona EV also uses the same basic platform, STLA Large, as the upcoming six-cylinder Charger, and the need to accommodate both powertrain types may have increased the weight further.

Even among performance electric sedans, the Charger Daytona is very heavy. A Porsche Taycan Turbo S weighs 5,082 pounds and a Tesla Model S Plaid weighs 4,761. As the EV9 comparison shows, you have to look to electric crossovers to find similarly heavy electric vehicles. Even the all-wheel-drive Cadillac Lyriq – which sits on GM’s not exactly flyweight Ultium platform – weighs less than 5,800 pounds.

The Charger Daytona’s heavy weight raises questions about driving dynamics. There’s no doubt it’ll be fast, and while the Charger has never been the last word in handling, getting through a corner in a nearly three-ton muscle car is no easy task.