Don’t Hold Your Breath For A New Dodge Charger Hellcat

Controversial it may be, but there’s one thing that nobody can deny about the new electric Dodge Charger Daytona: it’s fast. With 670bhp, all-wheel drive and a quoted 0-60mph time of 3.3 seconds, it’ll out-accelerate every version of the old Challenger bar the wheelie-capable Demon.

Nevertheless, faster, more powerful versions are slated to appear further down the line, but there’s one badge you shouldn’t expect to make a return for this new era of Dodge muscle car: Hellcat. The badge first appeared in 2014 on the then most powerful Challenger ever, a 707bhp monster with a new 6.2-litre supercharged version of the fabled Hemi V8.

Since then, there have been Hellcat versions of the old Charger saloon and the Durango SUV, always signifying some of the highest-performance versions of these cars, but it’s a name that’s now likely consigned to the history books.

Speaking with Road & Track, Dodge chief executive officer Tim Kuniskis explained that the badge was inextricably linked to the supercharged V8, and that fans of the brand would likely make their displeasure known if it appeared on a car powered by anything else: “If I called it a Hellcat I’d be killed, right? I’d be absolutely killed because that’s not what it is.”

Elsewhere, Kuniskis confirmed that Dodge was done with the V8 engine for the foreseeable future, pretty much spelling the end of the Hellcat name. He also tempered expectations for the return of the Challenger name now that the Charger is available as both a coupe and saloon, effectively replacing both of the old cars.

When an even faster version of the Charger Daytona – rumoured to be called the Banshee – does appear, it’ll likely offer some seriously impressive performance numbers, but Dodge seems to be aware that electric and straight-six Chargers might be hard sells to fans of its old V8 muscle cars. We’ll know for sure when the car enters production this summer.