Ford's Dark Horse drag raced the Charger Daytona in an American V8 vs EV grudge match
- A Ford Mustang Dark Horse and a Charger Daytona hit the quarter mile
- They’re both muscle cars, but that’s all they have in common
- The Mustang has a V8, while the Charger is electric – the winner is no surprise
Published on Apr 18, 2025 at 3:33 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Mar 27, 2025 at 2:11 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
Somebody decided to test a Ford Mustang Dark Horse in a drag race against a Dodge Charger Daytona EV, the world’s first electric muscle car.
These are both muscle cars, and they’re both American, but that’s all they have in common.
The Dark Horse has a V8, while the Charger is electric.
The result was predictable, but there’s something else worth pointing out.
DISCOVER SBX CARS – Bid now on supercar auctions powered by Supercar Blondie
Dark Horse vs Charger Daytona – Who won?
The Dark Horse is one of the most drag-race-friendly Ford Mustang cars you can buy.
It has a 5.0-liter Coyote V8, putting out 500HP and 418LB-FT of torque.
By contrast, the Charger Daytona EV, the world’s first muscle car with electric power, makes 670HP and 627LB-FT of torque.
The Charger does 0-60 in 3.6 seconds, which makes it 0.8s faster than the Dark Horse – despite weighing nearly 2,000lbs more.
At the end of the day, the Dodge Charger Daytona is just too powerful and torquey for the Mustang.
The Dark Horse never really stood a chance in the drag race set up by the Edmunds Cars YouTube channel.
Still, there’s something else we should probably point out.
We’re willing to bet that if we asked any gearhead which car they’d rather have, most would still go for the Dark Horse.
Partly because the engine noise its V8 makes which, unlike the fake one from the electric unit in the Daytona, is genuine, but mostly because, well, it has a V8.
And everyone loves a V8.
Why EVs are unbeatable in a drag race
Electric cars accelerate faster than gas cars thanks to something known as instant torque.
Internal combustion engines are complicated, with hundreds of components working in harmony.
By contrast, electric cars are relatively simple, so when you put the peddle to the metal, it’s like flicking a switch, and you go from no torque to all the available torque immediately.
This is why EVs generally beat gas cars even when they’re so much heavier.
The record-breaking Cybertruck Cyberbeast, for example, can beat a Porsche 911 or a Lamborghini Aventador in a drag race even though it weighs over three tons.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
