Dodge Might Not Drop Internal Combustion for Next-Gen Charger After All

Chris Teague
by Chris Teague

Dodge is discontinuing the Charger and Challenger after the 2023 model year, but the automaker isn’t doing away with muscle cars altogether. Though a Dodge spokesperson confirmed that internal combustion would not be a part of the next Charger lineup in a 2022 conversation with Motor1, a new report from  Mopar Insiders claims that the next-gen car will get the Hurricane inline-six alongside the electric Charger Daytona.


Mopar Insiders’ source said the electric Daytona’s look would be surprisingly similar to the concept car Dodge unveiled last year, while the standard Charger will get the Hurricane six-cylinder engine and may be positioned as a separate model. Like the concept, the production Charger Daytona will get a unique rear “R-wing,” an available panoramic glass roof, and an aerodynamic grille design that improves airflow and generates downforce.


Despite these tantalizing details on the new Charger, Mopar Insiders noted that Dodge might roll out a fresh Challenger before the next-gen Charger goes on sale. The automaker is expected to hand out more information at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in September.


Dodge and Chevrolet both announced the demise of their muscle cars, with the Camaro departing after 2024. That left Ford as the lone American automaker with a traditional gas-powered burnout machine on sale. The era of electrified muscle cars is coming, however, as Chevy is expected to drop an electrified Camaro in 2026, possibly as a 2027 model and an electric Ford Mustang is due by the end of the decade. 


[Image: Dodge/Stellantis]


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Chris Teague
Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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11 of 62 comments
  • Akear Akear on Aug 29, 2023

    Without a Hemi there is no purchase.

    • See 2 previous
    • Art_Vandelay Art_Vandelay on Aug 30, 2023

      The second gen Challenger that was built by Mitsubishi had a hemi


  • Kosmo Kosmo on Aug 30, 2023

    Who didn't see this coming?!


    Show of hands, please!

    • Luke42 Luke42 on Aug 30, 2023

      [shrug]

      The transition to EVs is a one-way trip, because they are better and faster and cheaper (to operate now, and cheaper to buy once the industry is fully mature).

      The only question is: how long until everyone else realizes this?

      It's safe to say that the Dodge Challenger people out there will be among the last to realize that EVs win. This shouldn't surprise anyone, both because the Dodge Challenger is a conservative/old-school kind of ostentatious.

      [Shrug]













  • Ajla Ajla on Aug 30, 2023

    It looks like my comment yesterday got eaten by technical issues but I think if the I6 sounds like a TVR or M4 then it might have have shot at acceptance. If it sounds like a wheezebox then it'll be a hard sell over a Mustang GT or premium brands.

    I do wonder why ChryslerCo didn't develop a new V8 engine family though. Is the production symmetry the 3.0L has with the 2.0L all it took to make the decision?





    • See 2 previous
    • Ajla Ajla on Aug 30, 2023

      I probably wouldn't even do the I6. Low pressure 4.0L V8 with 410hp, performance version with 550hp, hybridized version with 800hp.

      Or dump a Nettuno into a Dodge. 😁




  • Raz65750899 Raz65750899 on Oct 26, 2023

    Id swap the I6 into V8, and out there somebody would do it

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