Wards Names the Charger Daytona EV a “10 Best” Powertrain—Here’s Why That’s Hard to Swallow
Rolling through Oklahoma with the windows down, I saw a headline that stopped me cold: Wards just put the Dodge Charger Daytona EV on its “10 Best Engines & Propulsion Systems” list. Not the Hurricane inline-six—the EV. For a publication long known for celebrating bulletproof legends like GM’s 3800 V6, this feels… off.
For years, Wards was the place that honored workhorse brilliance: engines you could run to 250–300k miles with basic care. By contrast, the Charger Daytona EV’s launch has been marred by bricking incidents, tow-truck cameos, and dealer stays that stretch from days to weeks while owners wait on software patches or parts. Many early adopters love the way it drives when it’s working—quick, composed, and genuinely entertaining—but reliability is the cornerstone of any “best” list. When a car’s most viral moments involve non-starts and flatbeds, crowning its propulsion system feels disconnected from reality.
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This isn’t nitpicking over first-year quirks. Owners report recurring electronic and software gremlins, followed by over-the-air updates that don’t always stick—or worse, create new problems. If the public takeaway from a “10 Best” badge is “go ahead, it’s sorted,” some buyers may learn the hard way that it isn’t, especially if this is their only vehicle.
The optics also raise a broader trust issue. Industry awards (think J.D. Power) get accused—fairly or not—of being pay-to-win. Wards had a reputation for being different: measured, mechanical, credible. Declaring the Daytona EV’s system among the year’s best while owners struggle with uptime risks that hard-earned trust.
None of this says the Charger Daytona EV can’t become great. It can. Dodge can stabilize software, streamline diagnostics, stock parts, and turn an exciting idea into a dependable daily. When that day arrives, hand it trophies. Until then, celebrating its propulsion feels premature—and unfair to the people using flatbeds as Plan B.
Bottom line: Awards should follow durability and customer outcomes, not get ahead of them. If the Charger Daytona EV is going to wear a “10 Best” crown, it should first prove it can stay off the hook and out of the bay.
