Dodge Confirms Next Challenger Will Be Electric Only

[Hulksmash]

Confirmed: Next-Gen Dodge Charger, Challenger Will Be Electric Only
Dodge says rumors to the contrary are incorrect.
Christopher Smith

We know electric cars will eventually overtake internal combustion power. The transition is happening quicker at some automakers, but Dodge remains a safe haven for prolific V8 power. That will change when the next-generation Charger and Challenger arrive, despite recent rumors claiming otherwise.

In an email to Motor1.com, a Dodge spokesperson confirmed the next-generation platform will not only lose the Hemi V8, but all internal-combustion engines. The email conversation stemmed from a MotorTrendstory stating the Hemi would return for the future Charger and Challenger models. In fact, it will be a purely electric affair.

"The story is incorrect," said the spokesperson. "The Hemi in that platform, as well as that platform, are going away. The next generation will be BEV."

The platform in question is the LX, which is Chrysler's full-size, rear-wheel-drive layout dating back to 2005. The current models use modified versions of the platform – LD for the Charger and LA in the Challenger – that accommodate V6 and V8 engines along with the eight-speed automatic transmission.

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[DemoNJ]

I think Motor1 misinterpreted Dodge's statement. MotorTrend agrees...

They updated their article which may seem like some face saving but I think they are right. Dodge chose their words very carefully and Motor1 and some other outlets just jumped the gun without reading between the lines. Hopefully we find out who is right next week!

***

Update 8/2/2022: In response to this story, Dodge provided a statement to Motor1 and repeated it to MotorTrend: "The Hemi in that platform, as well as that platform, are going away. The next generation will be BEV."

One reading of that statement could be that the next-generation Dodge Charger and Challenger will only be offered as battery electric vehicles, full-stop. But we don't think so; here's another way to read Dodge's statement:

Take the first part, which states that "the Hemi in that platform, as well as that platform, are going away." Well, sure. The current LX (Charger) and LA (Challenger) platforms are going away by 2024. Those cars' replacements transition to the new STLA Large architecture. But it doesn't exactly close the door on the Hemi. If you read the statement closely, it says that the Hemi will no longer continue in the LA/LX platforms, which will be discontinued. Can't continue to put an engine in a platform you don't make anymore. But also, while this statement speaks to the current Hemi specifically, it doesn't address anything else about the next-generation platform and any gas engine availability in it. Dodge refutes that today's Hemi specifically lives on—an earlier version of this story included the possibility that it stayed—but we're confident that a V-8 of some kind will be offered, in addition to Hurricane I-6s with some hybridization.

Moving along to the next part, Dodge insists "the next generation will be BEV," as in, battery electric vehicles. Well, of course they will. But Dodge isn't saying they'll be "BEV-only." Two things can be true at once here: Dodge's full-size cars can be BEV, but some versions could be powered by internal combustion. The key word, which is missing, is "only."

Absent that qualifier, it remains totally possible that Dodge will sell its Charger/Challenger replacements with ICE options, either as a pretext to going full electric or simultaneously. (Just look at the upcoming Hornet, which is mechanically identical to the Alfa Romeo Tonale, a small SUV that will at first be powered by gas-electric hybrid and plug-in hybrid options before later offering a full-EV option.) To wit, the STLA Large platform, by Dodge parent company Stellantis' own admission, won't be a BEV-only architecture. In a news release about Stellantis' Windsor plant, which will be retooled soon to build STLA Large vehicles, the company describes the platform as of a "multi-energy vehicle (MEV)" type, one that will be battery-electric-vehicle-capable.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/next-gen-dodge-charger-challenger-hellcat-v8/

 

[jayvee]

A Dodge rep told me at Mecum that the hemi is being replaced by an inline 6 with twin compounded turbo. The electric will be an optional engine.