We noticed a curious detail in the press release announcing pricing for the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona EV. One of the features listed with the $4,995 Plus Group is, simply, "Frunk." Wait. Does this mean the front trunk is optional?
Indeed it does, a Dodge spokesperson confirmed to Motor1 yesterday.
Bizarrely, Dodge isn't the first to do this. At least in the U.K., the new Audi Q6 E-Tron's frunk is a £500 a-la-carte option. (Audi is yet to release packaging information on the U.S.-spec Q6 E-Tron.) But to the best of our recollection, that's the only other instance of this, EV or otherwise. In the Charger Daytona EV, it's not huge—a video from TFLEV notes it offers 1.5 cubic feet of storage—but it's enough for charging cables and other smaller items.
The Plus Group adds a number of other features to the Charger Daytona including cooled seats, LED lighting, a power rear hatch, wireless phone charging, 20 inch wheels for the base R/T model, and more. Still, this appears to be an odd bit of cost cutting—not including a simple piece of molded plastic under the hood as standard. But, the new Charger Daytona surely won't be as abundantly profitable as the old gas-powered Charger and Challenger, so Dodge has to find ways to eke out margins where it can.
The Charger Daytona is expensive as it is, too. Base price for the R/T is $61,950 and that rises to $75,185 for the Scat Pack, though both do qualify for a $7,500 tax credit when leased. Dodge may yet come out with cheaper models, though. A Dodge spokesperson tells us that "[f]uture model years will see the Charger Daytona lineup expand to cover a larger portion of the muscle car segment."