V8 Dodge Charger Coming Back in 2026 After Cold EV Reception: Report

Another day, another Hemi rumor. Hot on the heels of yesterday’s report that Hemi production is slated to restart later this year, MoparInsiders is now claiming that we could see the V8 return to the Dodge Charger for the 2026 model year. This report comes without any details of which Hemis may return to the Charger, when, or for how much money—nor does it mention a source. But as we reported Monday, there’s an awful lot of smoke coming out of Hemi-dom. At some point, one has no choice but to suspect a fire. But don’t run to your dealer just yet; you’re going to need to wait until the hurricane passes.

Sorry, that should be Hurricane (capital H). As MoparInsiders points out, the new turbocharged six-cylinder engine slated to take over ICE duties at Stellantis is still part of the picture, and with the company working hard to ramp up production of its Ram pickups, there’s zero chance that production of the Hurricane will be interrupted to rush production of the V8s. Ram needs trucks to sell now. Conveniently, there’s no overlap between the two engine lines. The Hurricane I6 is produced in Saltillo, Mexico, where tooling for the old Hemi lineup was removed to make room for the new engine.

But critically, that means you shouldn’t expect a Hemi-powered Charger for the 2025 model year. Even if production of the 5.7-liter, supercharged 6.2-liter, and 6.4-liter Apache V8 comes online at the company’s Dundee Engine Plant in Michigan in August as planned, there’s a lot more that goes into offering a new powertrain than fitting it into the car. As Dodge CEO Matt McAlear reminded us back in February, it’s not as simple as flipping a switch.

“You can’t just turn something on that wasn’t there before,” McAlear said. “Even if we were to say we wanted to do it today, pick any engine. A V10. A four-cylinder. It’s a year-and-a-half, two-year development cycle, right?”

Put another way? Be patient. Even if production comes online by the end of the year, there are other things to consider. For starters, the Charger may be the ultimate destination for the Hemi, but it’s far from the only passenger vehicle under the Stellantis umbrella that might get a shot in the arm from a revived Hemi.

The Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee are both candidates, and the dealer leak we reported earlier in March suggested that we’ll see the return of other specialty V8 models—namely the Wrangler Rubicon 392. Maybe we’ll even see a 392-powered Gladiator before Jeep puts this generation to bed. You won’t be able to afford one, but hey. Neat, right?

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