If you’re thinking about leasing a new Dodge Charger, you might want to think twice before going electric. The Charger Daytona might be the more futuristic option, but its monthly payments are enough to make even die-hard EV fans reconsider.
According to a new analysis by CarsDirect, leasing a 2026 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack can cost over twice as much as leasing its gas-powered counterpart. That’s a pretty staggering difference considering the two cars aren’t all that far apart in sticker price.
The electric Daytona Scat Pack starts at $60,690, while the gas-powered Charger Scat Pack costs $55,690. That’s a difference of just $5,000, or roughly 9 percent, which doesn’t sound outrageous.
However, the lease offers tell a completely different story. Thanks to a combination of unfavorable financing terms, low projected resale values, and missing incentives, the Daytona suddenly looks like a very expensive proposition.
Two Gas Chargers For The Price Of One EV?
Using Dodge’s online payment estimator, CarsDirect found that a 36-month lease on the electric Daytona Scat Pack costs $1,312 per month, with $6,269 due at signing. That’s based on an allowance of 10,000 miles per year.
Factor in the upfront payment, and the effective monthly cost rises to approximately $1,486 before taxes and fees. That’s an eye-watering amount for a Charger, regardless of what’s powering it.
Meanwhile, the gas-powered Charger Scat Pack is listed at $573 per month for 36 months, with $5,769 due at signing. Its effective monthly cost works out to around $733, making the electric version roughly 103 percent more expensive.
In other words, you could almost lease two gas-powered Chargers for the price of one Daytona. Whether you actually need two Chargers is not for us to decide.
Why Is The Electric Charger So Expensive To Lease?
The biggest problem isn’t the Daytona’s higher sticker price, but its lease terms. According to a September dealer bulletin cited by CarsDirect, the electric Charger has a projected residual value of just 40 percent, compared with 67 percent for the gas model.
The Daytona also carries a lease rate equivalent to approximately 12.5 percent, versus 5.4 percent for the gas-powered Charger. With the EV expected to lose far more value during the lease, those numbers help explain its enormous monthly payments.
To make matters worse, Dodge isn’t currently offering lease cash on the Daytona. The disappearance of the federal EV tax credit has also removed an incentive that previously helped make electric Charger leases more attractive.
Not Exactly An Easy Sell
Interestingly, CarsDirect reports that Dodge hasn’t advertised a lease deal for the 2026 Daytona since the model went on sale. Its online payment estimator also defaults to a 48-month lease with just 5,000 miles allowed annually.
Of course, lease offers can vary depending on location, credit approval, and available incentives. Still, based on these estimates, choosing the electric Charger means paying way more every month for a car that costs only slightly more to buy.
The Daytona might have plenty of horsepower, but at these prices, the gas-powered Charger is looking like the smarter deal, and you don’t even need a calculator to figure that out.