Test drive: 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat
The 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is the world's most powerful SUV, but Fox News Autos Editor Gary Gastelu says it's much more than that ... for better or worse.
The Hellcat will soon head back from whence it came.
The supercharged 6.2-liter Hellcat V8 has been offered in a variety of versions. (Dodge)
Dodge's demonic supercharged V8 engine and the Challenger and Charger models that feature it will end production with the 2023 model year, the brand's boss has confirmed.
"I will have this car, this platform, this powertrain as we know it through the end of '23. There's two more years to buy a Hellcat, then it's history," Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis told Motor Authority.
The 2022 Dodge Charger and Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye models have 807 hp engines. (Dodge)
The monster motor debuted in the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat with 707 hp and has since been offered in versions with up to 808 hp running on street gasoline.
Dodge has already discontinued the limited-edition Durango SRT Hellcat SUV due to increasingly strict federal emissions rules and Kuniskis cited the regulations as a reason the engine would be retired.
The 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat was a single-year model that was so popular Dodge had to increase production from a planned 2,000 to 3,000. (Dodge)
"You can still meet emissions with these cars. You're going to pay a lot of compliance fines," Kuniskis said.
Along with being a drag on the automaker's fleet fuel economy, buyers of Hellcat-powered Challengers and Chargers currently have to pay a gas guzzler tax upward of $2,100 per car.
Ram has not confirmed if the Hellcat-powered TRX pickup will suffer the same fate as the Dodges.
The Hellcat is going out with a bang, however. Dodge last week announced new Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak models with 807 hp Hellcats that can be configured with myriad color, trim and appearance accessory combinations that can potentially make each one entirely unique.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Dodge isn't done with muscle, however, it'll just be offering a different kind in the future.
Kuniskis said that he'll be taking the wraps off of the first battery-powered Dodge next year ahead of its debut as a 2024 model.