Dodge fans were up in arms when the brand announced that it would be going electric. How would the drivers of Hellcats and Scat Packs the world over obnoxiously rip through traffic now? Today, they can put their pitchforks down, at least partially.
The Drive has confirmed that the next generation Dodge Charger will get a gas engine after all, it just won’t be a V8. The confirmation comes from a source that has inside information from a Dodge supplier who agreed to share info on on the condition they remain anonymous. This source confirmed that the Charger will be getting a version of the brand’s Hurricane straight six engine in addition to electric power.
“They’re keeping gasoline engines. The official designation for the vehicle platform is LB and it will have the new GME-T6 Hurricane inline-six in RWD and AWD,” the source said. “It will be using the Stellantis Gen 4 transmission that’s also rolling out to Mack Assembly, Jefferson North Assembly, and Toledo North.”
As The Drive pointed out, Dodge has hyped its EV transition, suggesting that the era of the gas powered muscle car was coming to an end. Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis admitted that the platform for the next generation of the Charger could handle both gas and electric powertrains but maintained that gas power wasn’t in the cards. What’s changed?
The Hurricane I6 currently sees duty in just one Stellantis product, the Jeep Wagoneer. While a twin-turbo version of the engine has already replaced the 6.4-liter V8 in the Grand Wagoneer, rumor is a standard output version of the engine will replace the 5.7-liter V8 in the lower Wagoneer models. The engine is offered in two outputs, the aforementioned twin-turbo version with 510 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque and the standard version with 420 hp and 468 lb-ft of torque. The source was only able to confirm to The Drive that the next Charger would get the standard version of the straight six; it’s still up in the air whether or not the high output version would see duty.
Other news that can’t be confirmed might disappoint some.
The Charger’s Gen 4 transmission is a new version of the venerable eight-speed automatic; sadly, there’s no sign of a manual, nor of the rumored “updated” V8. We also can’t confirm how closely the final design sticks to the look of the concept, or if the gas and electric versions are visually distinct.
It’s also not known what body style the new car will be. Recently leaked factory photos show a coupe body, with the source confirming that it was the new Charger.
Even with confirmation like this, what Dodge has planned for the new Charger is still not totally clear.