Dodge's Matt McAlear on Tariffs, the Hornet, Haters, and the Daytona

In This Issue

• Matt McAlear - It’s Podcast Time!

• There’s More to Life Than Tesla

• More Goodies

Matt McAlear - It’s Podcast Time!

Today I’m announcing the official launch of the semi-regular The Kirchner Report podcast. The goal is to provide you with more insight into the industry through interviews with automotive executives, discussions with experts and analysts, and roundtables with luminaries.

The first episode is with Dodge Brand CEO Matt McAlear. He talks openly about tariffs and what it could mean to the business (there’s probably some exclusive scoop-age in here), some of the Hornet hiccups, haters, and the Dodge Charger Daytona.

If you’re reading this via email, you can listen to the episode by clicking here and going to our dedicated podcast page and show notes. Or if you’re viewing this on the web, you can listen in the embedded player below.

Hopefully you enjoy it and consider subscribing. You can find it wherever fine podcasts are sold, or on the podcast page at podcast.kirchnerreport.com.

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There’s More to Life Than Tesla

Last week, I attended the first drive of the all-new Dodge Charger Daytona. It’s the first new Charger / Challenger in decades when you think about it, and it’s also the company’s first dedicated electric vehicle. The LX platform had underpinnings from a Mercedes-Benz E-Class from the late 1990s. This car on STLA Large is new. Like properly new.

While I do think the car is a great first effort from Dodge, with more positives than negatives, I was looking through some of the coverage and saw a few people who seemed to absolutely hate the new car.

Everyone is, of course, entitled to their own opinions. As of this moment, it’s still a free country, and opinions are one of those things people are allowed to have. I think it’s important, however, to go into every new car drive with an open mind. The Charger Daytona is a polarizing vehicle, for sure, but as reviewers, we should be fair in our coverage.

What’s interesting about covering EVs is the largest EV maker in the world is Tesla. Tesla’s cars tend to be pretty competitive both in straight-line performance and pricing. Some of Tesla’s software is also quite good, including the built-in dynamic route planning.

So it makes sense that people would compare Tesla to other EVs. We should, as reviewers, do exactly that. (That would mean that reviewers should occasionally drive a Tesla, and I know far too many ‘professionals’ that won’t drive a car unless its dropped off in their driveway with a full charge or full tank of gas, but I digress). But there’s more that we need to keep in mind.

One of the things we should check to see is if the car we’re driving is a good EV. While EVs are quite similar to gasoline-powered counterparts, there’s some differences that automakers should figure out when building an all-electric car to help consumers with that hurdle of switching.

On the other hand, and something some people do forget, we also need to evaluate whether or not that EV is a good car. Was it built properly? Does the paint look like it was applied by a professional? What’s it like to drive?

As a car, the Charger Daytona is a pretty solid offering. It’s big but uses its space well. It has an actual modern interior. Uconnect 5 is excellent (I didn’t get a chance to check for dynamic route planning, but the 500e I drove earlier this year I recall the vehicle having it, so I’m not sure what or why it’d be different on the Charger but at least one reviewer suggested the car didn’t have it). It’s fantastic on the highway as a long-distance cruiser.

As an EV, it should charge quickly. I wish it would ship with the NACS connector. I think there should be some simulated gear action — like the Ioniq 5 N — to up the excitement level and help better manage the sound output of the Fratzonic. I’d also like to see maybe some more refinement with the regen settings and in some situations a ton of power is sent to the front wheels, causing a front wheel burnout which isn’t ideal.

The Charger Daytona isn’t the worst EV I’ve driven. It’s not the worst car I’ve driven. If you’re coming from a gasoline-powered car, you’re going to have a good time. If there are a few software tweaks to address some of my concerns, it could be a great experience.

If you’re coming from another EV, you’re likely interested in this car for the design or the use of space. Both are excellent here. Plus, it’ll go down the highway like a BMW i5 M60, which is a compliment. On the track, it’s fine, albeit heavy. But the Charger and Challenger were never really track cars, even if you could do it reasonably well.

Plus, this car was the most attention-grabbing car I’ve driven all year.

At the end of the day, if you want the best EV experience, you probably still want to look at a Tesla (and increasingly so, some of the Korean and GM offerings), but if you want to skip Tesla because of any number of reasons (that possibly include Nazis), then there is a whole litany of other options out there. The Charger Daytona is one of them.

More Goodies

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