This time last year, Stellantis was busy dropping a raft of news on the automotive world about its plans for an all-electric future. EVs were shown in concept form, through shadowy teaser photos, and cheeky hikes-of-the-skirt peeks of aggressive-looking machines. Yesterday, a buff book in America blustered through a firehose of speculation, screaming the next Charger and Challenger will be available with a V8 engine.
Well, of course it probably will. Dodge has plainly said that the shift to EVs won’t happen overnight and isn’t going to be as simple as flipping a light switch. Remember, the current Charger and Challenger are built right here in Canada at Brampton Assembly, a facility the company has openly said will be completely overhauled to the tune of $3.4 billion.
Production of the present 300, Charger, and Challenger will end in 2024 to make way for the project, with production (of …something else) resuming at the plant within the next calendar year. When the facility restarts, it will “introduce an all-new, flexible architecture to support the company’s electrification plans” which can of course include hybrids with a gasoline-powered engine.
These changes open the door for reckless and irresponsible speculation. Sure, there’s a chance some of the vehicles built in the New-Era Brampton facility (my term, not Stellantis’) could initially have a V8 as an option in some form or another as part of a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but to blindly blather ‘It lives!’ borders on hyperbolic clickbait.
Eight-cylinder PHEVs are not unheard of, but we’ll warn Stellantis has expressly stated it’s halting Hellcat production next year. If there is a V8 in the future, it will be of a different (and maybe existing) displacement. Recall the company has that new twin-turbo Hurricane inline-six in its toolbox now, too.
A screenshot from a teaser video of an upcoming Dodge muscle car Photo by Stellantis
Stellantis applied for two new trademarks in America earlier this month, both seeking to protect the old-school ‘Fratzog’ logo. One of the documents details the logo’s shape, described as a split deltoid made of three arrowhead shapes that form a three-pointed star; while the other deals with the word itself. These applications are generally assigned to an attorney wonk about six months after the initial application, so don’t expect your Dodge store to begin swapping signage any time soon. These could be reserved for EVs — or not.
In other words, don’t hang yer hat on loudmouthed speculation which makes copious use of the words ‘guess’, ‘asterisk’, and ‘probably’. Dodge is set to reveal more about its future plans for speed later this summer.
Keyword: Next Dodge Charger, Challenger could have V8s, or not: report