Dodge Is Fast-Tracking ICE Charger Production Because It’s What People Want: Report

Nov 12, 2024

The Dodge Charger is in transition right now. Gone are the V8-powered brutes we’ve known, and coming soon are the Charger Daytona EVs that still have so much to prove. A Dodge spokesperson recently confirmed to me that those are slated to hit dealers in the fourth quarter of this year, though there’s building anticipation for the new internal combustion engined Charger with the twin-turbo Hurricane inline-six. Those models were originally planned to reach customers in late 2025, but a report from Mopar Insiders says production is being accelerated so they can meet a new deadline of next summer.

The enthusiast blog cites unnamed sources with the news, albeit with a believable explanation. Dodge allegedly made the decision in response to customer demand for high-performance, gas-powered muscle cars. The Drive has reached out to the manufacturer and will update this post with its response.

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It’s true that ICE muscle cars have become increasingly rare in the last year or so. Chevrolet has put the Camaro on pause indefinitely, alluding to a return someday after discontinuing the sixth-gen model in December 2023—though GM still offers the V8-powered Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. That’s also when Dodge stopped building fossil-fueled Chargers and Challengers, with the latter now out of the lineup altogether. Ford claims the Mustang will keep its V8 until it’s illegal.

Although the same can’t be said of the Charger and the Hemi that died with the car’s last generation, the Hurricane I6 is still plenty mighty. Standard output (S.O.) models will make 420 horsepower and high output (H.O.) versions crank that up to 550 hp—more than any naturally aspirated V8 in the Charger’s history could manage. It does this with only 3.0 liters of displacement thanks to twin turbos, which make a lot of boost; in the H.O. Ram 1500, they produce 28 psi.

In all, Dodge’s rollout of the forthcoming Charger has seemed frantic on the outside. It’s seemingly doing everything possible to get them on the road, though apparent obstacles keep popping up. We were originally supposed to be Charger Daytona EV start production in June but now here we are in November and things are still ramping up. At least the more traditional gas Charger shouldn’t be far behind by the sounds of i.

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