Electric Dodge Charger Owner Fined for “Excessive Exhaust Noise”
In a scene worthy of satire, police in Minnesota fined the driver of a fully electric Dodge Charger for having an exhaust that was “too loud”, despite the car not having an exhaust at all.
The incident unfolded in Stillwater, Minnesota, where a man named Michael found himself accused of violating noise limits with his Dodge Charger EV. According to the patrol officers, his car “roared” beyond the city’s permissible threshold. The problem? The Charger EV is, by design, virtually silent and built without a muffler system to begin with.
Michael was driving calmly through town when, at a traffic light, the vehicle ahead accelerated with a loud growl. Officers misattributed the sound to his Charger, pulled him over, and issued a fine for excessive exhaust noise. When Michael attempted to explain that his EV had no exhaust whatsoever, he was slapped with an additional citation for “disturbing the peace.”
Technically, Dodge’s new Charger EV does come equipped with a sound simulator designed to mimic internal combustion noise—intended to enhance driver engagement inside the cabin. But this feature is active only in certain modes, such as Sport or while stationary. Michael insists his car was in standard driving mode, with no simulated sound in use.
The episode highlights the growing pains of law enforcement adjusting to the EV era, where old rules about mufflers and emissions collide with the realities of silent propulsion. For Michael, however, it’s less a matter of progress and more a costly misunderstanding.
