The takeaway:
- What’s confirmed, and what isn’t: The current Charger is real and on sale: a 420-hp R/T, a 550-hp Scat Pack, and a 670-hp electric Daytona. The Hellcat V8 is not confirmed — internal Stellantis documents obtained by MoparInsiders and seen by Automotive News reportedly put the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 back in the Charger for 2028, and Stellantis has refused to comment.
- Why it matters: This would be the biggest reversal in modern muscle-car history: a car rebuilt around batteries and six cylinders, getting its blown V8 back because buyers would not buy it without one.
- Our take: Two independent document-based reports, a supplier production plan, and a sales collapse that explains the motive — the strongest unconfirmed muscle-car rumor of the year. Worth following, not planning a purchase around.
Estimated price: not yet announced · Expected on-sale: reportedly 2028 model year (production reportedly late 2027)
Dodge killed the old Charger and Challenger after 2023, taking the Hemi V8 with them, and rebuilt the Charger around a twin-turbo inline-six and a battery-electric Daytona. On paper, neither car is slow. In showrooms, neither has sold: through the first nine months of 2026, Dodge sold about 8,029 gasoline Chargers and just 767 electric Daytonas — the EV down roughly 90 percent from the same period in 2025. For context, the Charger and Challenger together sold 120,880 cars in the United States in 2023. That gap is the reason this rumor exists.
Everything below about the Hellcat comes from reporting, not a Dodge announcement — Stellantis declined to comment on future product strategy. Until Dodge says it out loud, treat every Hellcat detail as reported.
What Will It Look Like?
Reportedly, much like the Charger you can already buy — with a louder attitude. The Hellcat is planned to arrive with the car’s first mid-cycle refresh, and CarScoops expects visual upgrades including a large hood scoop and possibly flared fenders. Those are expectations, not leaked facts — do not treat online renderings as the real car.
What the reporting does settle is the range: the V8 is planned for both the two-door coupe (LB29) and the four-door sedan (LB49). The Hellcat would be the flagship of the whole line, not a two-door-only toy.
What Will Power It?
The reported hardware is the familiar one: engine code ESD, the supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8, paired with ZF’s heavy-duty 8HP95 eight-speed automatic — automatic-only, no manual, unlike the old Challenger Hellcat.
The detail that marks this as a real program: the Hellcat Charger is reportedly rear-wheel drive only. Every Hurricane Charger is all-wheel drive, but the reporting says there is not room to package the supercharged V8 alongside the all-wheel-drive hardware — so Dodge reportedly chose the V8 over the front axle.
Now the number everyone asks about, answered honestly: Dodge has announced no power figure. The previous-generation Charger Hellcat made 717 horsepower — that is the old car’s number, not this car’s. The same engine in the current Ram 1500 SRT TRX makes 777 horsepower, and Car and Driver has suggested Dodge could land near either figure. Anyone quoting an exact number for the 2028 Hellcat today is inventing it.
When Will It Go On Sale?
According to Automotive News, citing supplier planning documents, production should begin at the end of 2027, with the cars arriving as 2028 models, and suppliers have reportedly been told to prepare for around 12,000 units a year. A 2027 Detroit Auto Show debut has been floated — speculation, but the timing fits.
Pause on that 12,000 figure: Dodge sold about 8,796 Chargers of all kinds through the first nine months of 2026, so 12,000 Hellcats a year would nearly equal the entire current lineup’s annual volume. Either Dodge expects the V8 to transform Charger sales, or the plan will shrink before production.
How Much Will It Cost?
There is no credible price estimate, and this article will not invent one. No outlet with real sourcing has attached a dollar figure — pricing depends on answers only Dodge has.
What can be said is where it has to sit. The current range tops out at $59,995 for the Daytona Scat Pack, with the Scat Pack at $54,995 and the R/T at $49,995 (four-doors cost $2,000 more). A supercharged V8 flagship cannot plausibly slot below those cars, so expect it at the top of the range; how far above is anyone’s guess. The honest comparison is not a price but a proposition: the old Hellcat formula was huge horsepower for the money, and Dodge knows buyers will judge the new one the same way.
Should You Wait or Buy Something Else Now?
Do not wait for this car if you need a car soon: it is unconfirmed, its reported arrival is more than a year away, and plans built on internal documents can still change. But if you refused the six-cylinder and electric Chargers, this is the first reporting worth taking seriously — and the wait now has a plausible end date.
Buy something real instead: the current Charger Scat Pack — 550 horsepower, 531 lb-ft, 0–60 in 3.9 seconds — is on sale today from $54,995. The Ford Mustang still offers a V8 coupe today. Or buy the thing this rumor is about: a previous-generation Charger or Challenger Hellcat.
For contrast, the 2027 Silverado 1500 is confirmed, revealed, and priced (see our Silverado article), while the Camaro revival runs on insider reporting alone (see our Camaro article). The Charger Hellcat sits between those poles — unconfirmed, but backed by documents, not whispers. For every other car on the way, see our Future Cars hub.
The Rivals
Ford Mustang: The Mustang never left the V8 business — a real coupe with a real V8, available today. If the Hellcat slips, the Mustang is where its buyers go.
Current Charger Scat Pack: The most awkward rival, because it is the same car: the 550-hp Hurricane Scat Pack is fast, on sale, and far cheaper than any Hellcat will be. The Hellcat’s job is not to beat it on a spec sheet — it is to give buyers the sound and soul the six cannot.
Used previous-generation Hellcat: The 2015–2023 Charger and Challenger Hellcats are the only way to own the formula today. While the new one stays unconfirmed, the used market is the real Hellcat market.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Charger Hellcat actually coming back?
Reported, not confirmed. MoparInsiders obtained an internal Stellantis document listing the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 for the 2028 Charger, and Automotive News separately reported supplier plans for late-2027 production. Stellantis declined to comment.
Will it have all-wheel drive?
Reportedly no — rear-wheel drive only, because reports say the supercharged V8 cannot be packaged with the Hurricane models’ all-wheel-drive hardware.
How much horsepower will it have?
Unknown. Dodge has announced nothing. The previous-generation Charger Hellcat made 717 horsepower and the same engine makes 777 horsepower in the Ram 1500 SRT TRX — reference points, not the new car’s figure.
When will we know for sure?
Only Dodge can settle it. Watch for an official announcement, a 2027 auto-show debut, or late-2027 production news — and beware of renderings presented as leaked photos.
Arsalan Shaikh is the founder and editor of CarModels.online. A lifelong car enthusiast, he writes practical, jargon-free buying guides to help readers choose the right car with confidence — from first-time buyers to seasoned owners.
