Dodge killed the V8 Charger in December 2023 with a run of “Last Call” editions, and the backlash from loyal buyers apparently hasn’t faded. According to industry insiders, the company has now approved plans to bring the supercharged Hellcat back — just not to the whole lineup.
What’s Reportedly Been Approved
Sources connected to automotive outlet Mopar Insiders claim the next-generation Dodge Charger Hellcat has received internal approval, though Dodge itself hasn’t confirmed the program publicly. If accurate, the revived Hellcat would arrive for the 2028 model year, putting it in U.S. showrooms as early as the second half of 2027 — a genuinely long wait for anyone hoping the V8 comes back sooner.
Critically, the report describes the Hellcat as sitting alone at the top of the Charger lineup as the only V8-powered variant, with every other gas-powered trim continuing to use a six-cylinder engine instead. That’s a deliberate compromise: Dodge gets to keep the Hellcat name and its muscle car halo without fully reversing its broader shift toward newer powertrain technology across the rest of the range.
Why the V8’s Absence Hit So Hard in the First Place
The supercharged 6.2-liter Hellcat engine produced anywhere from 707 horsepower up to 1,025 horsepower in its most extreme applications, numbers that helped make it one of the most powerful engines ever installed in a mainstream American production car. Losing that engine — and the supercharger whine that came with it — is exactly what fueled the loudest complaints from muscle car loyalists after Dodge’s shift to six-cylinder power.
That six-cylinder replacement, the twin-turbo Hurricane inline-six, isn’t slow by any measure — it makes up to 550 horsepower in the current Charger and gets the car from zero to 60 in about 3.9 seconds with its variable all-wheel-drive system. But for a lot of buyers, the Hellcat was never really about the numbers alone; it was the character and reputation that came with it.
What It Would Cost to Get One
Early estimates put a revived Charger Hellcat’s price near $80,000, a significant jump over the six-cylinder Charger Scat Pack, which currently starts just over $60,000. That gap reflects the Hellcat’s positioning as an unambiguous flagship rather than a mainstream trim — reinforcing the idea that Dodge sees this as a halo car for the brand rather than a return to broad V8 availability.
Still Unconfirmed, Still a Long Wait
None of this is official yet. Dodge hasn’t announced a Hellcat revival or provided a timeline, and everything here rests on insider reporting rather than a company statement. If it does pan out, fans will need to wait until the 2028 model year — meaning the supercharged V8’s return to Dodge showrooms is still the better part of two years away.