Even Dodge says V8 era is ending, adds what's next is even more exciting

Dodge recently warned that emissions regulations are killing the V8 engine. It reaffirmed this grim message, it clearly stated the V8 is on its way out, but it stressed electrification will make its breed of muscle cars more exciting.

"There hasn't been a date drawn in the sand saying you'll no longer be able to buy an iron block Hemi anymore, but everybody knows it's coming and they want to enjoy [the engine] while they can," stated Matt McAlear, Dodge's head of sales operations, in an interview with Muscle Cars & Trucks. Not all is lost. "The replacements are going to be so much more exciting," he added, without providing details about what his team has in store for the future.

Rumors about how the Charger and the Challenger (introduced in 2008) will evolve during the 2020s are rampant. One of the unverified reports claims the next-generation Challenger will be smaller and correspondingly lighter than its predecessor. In 2019, then-Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) boss Mike Manley announced some degree of electrification is inevitable. Tellingly, he also stated "what it isn't going to be is a V8, supercharged, 700-horsepower engine" when asked about what would power the Challenger's successor. Nothing suggests the recent merger with PSA to form Stellantis derailed those plans; if anything, it accelerates the FCA side's drive to electrify.

In the meantime, Dodge will do what it can to satisfy the enthusiast community's appetite for V8 engines.