If you like quiet car rides, nothing beats cruising around in an electric vehicle. However, manufacturers realize that some people really like to hear their cars vroom as they’re tearing up pavement, so some have incorporated artificial engine noises in their EVs, such as the Dodge Charger Daytona.
But can you get a ticket for driving an EV with a loud exhaust sound, even if it’s fake?
EV Driver Gets Exhaust Noise Pollution Ticket
That’s exactly what happened to a Charger Daytona EV driver named Mike when Minnesota authorities pulled him over. In an Instagram post first spotted by The Drive, he showed off footage of his electrified muscle car with a caption emblazoned over the video: “Pulled over for loud exhaust in an electric car!” A few seconds into his clip, a recording of the police stop in question pops up on the screen.
An officer can be seen approaching the driver’s side window of the Charger Daytona. While his face is off-camera, the cop can be heard telling Mike that he’s been warned about his car’s muffler noise “in the past.” Mike argues that the vehicle the law enforcement official is referring to was a previous vehicle: “That was when I had a gas car.”
“I’m not going to argue with you,” the cop tells him before indicating that he’s hitting him with multiple citations, including a “public nuisance” ticket. “That was super loud back there on the streets. You have any questions about this?” the cop asks the driver.
“No,” Mike replies before someone else sitting in the car with him asks, “Are you aware electric cars don’t have mufflers?” Afterward, the clip cuts to a still image of the ticket he received. The sheet lists three separate offenses:
- Loud Muffler Exhaust
- Front And Rear License Plates Required
- Public Nuisance / Annoy / Injure / Endanger Safety
In an interview with The Drive, Mike told the outlet that he wasn’t at fault for the loud exhaust noise purportedly emitting from his vehicle. He said that the sound the cop was referring to was actually made by another car that was pulling out on the road beside him.
Additionally, Mike claimed that because his car was running low on battery, the vehicle’s Auto Mode was engaged, which conserves juice on its large lithium-ion battery pack by, among other things, keeping faux engine noises to a minimum.
Too Loud, Or Too Quiet?
Mike’s incident is a far cry from reports of Charger Daytonas that were recalled for being much too quiet. Street Legal wrote that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “flagged the Charger EV for potentially failing to meet minimum pedestrian noise requirements,” meaning folks couldn’t hear the car coming and could be struck in certain scenarios.
Motor Trend reported that some Charger Daytonas may not have had their fake exhaust sounds programmed properly but that the fix was an easy one.
As for Mike’s situation, The Drive wrote that his list of citations included a court summons. However, the driver told the website that he hasn’t paid the ticket, as he couldn’t locate the relevant court ID number.
Moreover, he said that he phoned the local courthouse regarding his case but still hasn’t been able to iron down a court date.
Some users who replied to his video stated that when he goes to court, he has a strong argument in his favor about being ticketed for having a loud exhaust system because the car doesn’t have an exhaust.
As for noise pollution, there are indeed laws in place that can see drivers get ticketed for driving noisy vehicles.
InsideEVs has reached out to Dodge via email and Mike via Instagram DM for further comment.
