The Stellantis Group is having such a hard time selling the electric alternative that the V8 engine is on its way back into the Dodge Charger.
Dodge has so few orders on the books when it comes to the electric Charger Daytona that the V8-powered variant is on the way back.
This is what MoparInsiders writes.
According to the media outlet, Dodge is so far along in its plans that we could see a brand-new Dodge Charger with a V8 engine as early as the 2026 model year.
When the CEO of the Stellantis Group, Carlos Tavares, was fired last December, it emerged that no one but him wanted to kill the big Hemi-V8 engine. Read more about it here .
And now the American part of the world's fourth-largest car group is making amends for the former CEO's decision.
Customers are staying away from the electric Dodge Charger
Partly because the electric Charger Daytona is full of bugs. As Boosted reported back in January, the cars are simply breaking down at dealerships.
According to dealers, the situation could turn into a disaster. Some of the cars may need battery replacement. However, this information has not been confirmed by Dodge in the US.
Also during a press drive on a race track, a Dodge Charger Daytona experienced technical problems. The cars that were provided had so many faults that the car brand had to interrupt the test drive.
However, the top boss at Dodge, Matt McAlear, also said back in February that it's not just something you do if you have to put a bigger engine in the car.
The car brand insists that there is technically no room for a V8 engine in the new Dodge chassis, which does come with a straight-six from the factory.
– You can't just put something (a V8 engine, ed.) in there that wasn't there before. Not even if we said we would do it today.
– And it doesn't matter whether that engine has 4 or 10 cylinders. There's a two – two and a half year – development cycle on that sort of thing, says Matt McAlear.
Conversely, an Austrian tuner has proven that there is actually room for a V8 engine in the current, 4-cylinder Mercedes C63 AMG, although Mercedes denies that they have any plans for such a thing.