The ballistic, V8-powered Hellcat could make an unexpected return to Dodge’s Charger lineup to offset muted interest in the all-electric Daytona electric and Hurricane six-cylinder powerplants currently available for the American brand's legendary muscle car. If confirmed, the high-performance V8 will likely coincide with the Charger's expected mid-cycle refresh and could even land as early as 2028. Hellcat Range-Topper In The Pipeline, Sources Claim StellantisAccording to sources close to Mopar Insiders, a V8-powered Hellcat may – and we emphasize the word may – already be in the early stages of development and could be reintroduced as a new top-of-the-range performance model as part of the eight-generation Charger’s 2028 refresh. If confirmed, this would mark the first time the Hellcat name has been attached to Dodge’s muscle car range since the Last Call Edition bid farewell to the now-discontinued Challenger. And no, we're not counting Dodge Durango Hellcat as a muscle car.Admittedly, Mopar Insider’s report is far from official, with the publication stating that “everything [they] are reporting is based on information from sources familiar with the matter.” Market demand and recent comments from Stellantis higher-ups, however, suggest there is validity to these claims.DodgeThe report goes on to state – again, unofficially – that a new Hellcat Charger would probably be released as a two-door model at first, to be followed later by a four-door model in line with Dodge’s traditional rollout strategy. Perhaps unsurprisingly, output from the previous, supercharged HEMI V8-powered Charger SRT Hellcat – 717-horsepower – could be hiked considerably, potentially in-line with the 777 hp output of the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 found in the recently relaunched Ram SRT TRX. Incidentally, you wouldn’t believe the sports cars that this beast can beat to 60 mph… Why Dodge Would Need To Go Big With Rumored New Hellcat StellantisSpeculation of a new – and almost sarcastically powerful – V8 Charger is not that surprising. The all-electric Charger Daytona, after all, on which Dodge had pinned its hopes of an electrified future, has already lost its entry-level R/T trim thanks to slow sales. The marque’s new 3.0-liter twin-turbo Hurricane inline-six, meanwhile, has, admittedly, been something of a revelation, producing up to 540 hp in "High Output" form, more so than even sister brand Ram’s 6.4-liter HEMI V8. Dodge fans and customers alike, however, have lambasted the loss of Dodge’s evocative Hemi V8, production of which ended ahead of 2024 (save in the aforementioned Durango).Speculation that fan outcry has not fallen on deaf ears and that Dodge could start course-correcting was further sparked in January, when Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis stated, “the only way it makes sense to charge for [an optional HEMI] now is I have to go all the way up to a Hellcat.” Recent fanatical interest in the newly revived Street and Racing Track division, which Kuniskis also heads up, further emphasizes the desire for higher-performance models.StellantisSimply slamming a supercharged V8 onto the eighth-gen Charger’s ironically more flexible STLA Large platform, however, is far easier said than done, given the cooling, compliance, and durability testing required. By contrast, re-introducing the Hellcat Charger during a mid-life refresh, which will already garner significant headlines, makes more sense logistically. Moreover, with Ford's supercharged Mustang Dark Horse SC already on the board, simply one-upping the Hurricane six-cylinder wouldn’t be enough of a warning shot. A 777-hp supercharged V8-powered Hellcat, on the other hand…
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