It is very good news that the Hemi V8 is coming back out of its government-forced retirement, for which Donald Trump deserves thanks. It was he who made it feasible for Stellantis – which owns the Dodge and Jeep and Ram truck brands – to bring the Hemi back by at least dialing back the punitive fines applied for not complying with federal fuel efficiency (CAFE) “standards” – i.e., the mandatory MPG minimums the federal government decrees have to be met regardless of cost (and never mind that no one is forced to buy a “gas guzzler”).
These fines add cost to the targeted vehicles, with the idea being to make them less and less affordable so that fewer and fewer people who want them can buy them. This makes them harder to sell, especially in numbers.
This, in turn, furthers the goal of pushing vehicles people want off the market without actually outlawing them, which is devilishly clever. It is still legal to manufacture and offer for sale vehicles with V6 and V8 engines; but compliance costs are so high now that most people are priced out of the market for vehicles so equipped.
To get some idea of that cost, Stellantis – which is the parent company of Dodge, Ram and Jeep – has been forced to pay $190.6 million in CAFE non-compliance fines this year alone. Mind, that’s with the Hemi not even being available in most Dodge Ram and Jeep vehicles anymore. The only 2025 model year Stellantis vehicles that still offer the Hemi are the Dodge Durango and Jeep Wrangler (the latter exclusively in the $99,995 Rubicon 392 Final Edition, which apparently is not going to be the final edition, at least in terms of offering the big V8).
When the Hemi was still widely available in models such as the Dodge Charger and Challenger as well as the Ram 1500 and various Jeeps, including the Grand Cherokee, compliance costs were much higher. Not just the CAFE compliance costs, either. No other major automaker was forced – effectively – to pay as much to Elon Musk (via his Tesla electric car grift) than Stellantis, for “carbon credits,” to make up for its “carbon footprint” – an imaginary construct similar to the “asymptomatic spreader.” The big V8 inhaled more gas, you see – and so inevitably more gasses were “emitted” from the tailpipes of Hemi-equipped vehicles. That these gasses were almost entirely innocuous gasses (C02) that do not pollute anything and do support plant growth (interesting that the reds who pretend to be green never acknowledge that point) is as irrelevant in terms of enforcement as the fact that a person was not sick and therefore not contagious was insofar as him being forced to wear a “mask.”
Stellantis had to buy “credits” from Tesla – which had them to spare because Teslas are arbitrarily considered (by the government) to be “zero emissions” vehicles because they do not have tailpipes and thus have a princess-slipper-sized “carbon footprint.” Tesla sold “credits” for making the “zero emissions” devices that a company such as Stellantis did not make in order for Stellantis to be allowed to sell vehicles with tailpipes.
. These of course got more expensive (again) due to the passed-along costs of compliance.
It made Hemi-equipped Chargers and Challengers and Ram 1500s and Jeeps cost so much they became a hard sell. So Stellantis pulled the Hemi out of the lineup in order to reduce the passed-along compliance costs. But without the Hemi (or an engine at all, in the case of the Charger) these models began to not sell as well. The Hurricane inline six that was brought out as the replacement for displacement is not a bad engine; it is just not the kind of engine people who buy Chargers and Rams want.
That’s why the Hemi is coming back – and that is good news.
Even better is the news that the cost will not be exorbitant. According to a Ram spokesperson, the 2026 Ram 1500 will be available as a stand-alone option on all trims, with prices in the range of $1,200-$2,895 for most trims and a no-cost option on the Limited and Longhorn trims.
In other words, even the base Tradesman (work truck) trim will be available with the Hemi. Put another way, the returning V8 won’t be priced out of reach by limiting its availability to the higher (more expensive) trims.
Ready for the bad news?
The returning Hemi will only be available with the “eTorque” mild-hybrid system that was formerly optional. It was an option that not many buyers chose because it adds little, if anything, of value to the truck. It is a compliance technology that automatically shuts off the V8 as often as feasible – to reduce the “emissions” of C02 and (slightly) decrease gas consumption. The difference – as far as MPGs – is trivial, especially in relation to the added cost of the compliance technology, both up front and down-the-road (e.g., as with all hybrids, eventually, the hybrid battery will have to be replaced and that isn’t inexpensive).
The difference as far as C02 “emissions” is also trivial in that there is only about 0.04 percent C02 in total already in the air. Adding or subtracting a fraction of that fraction is a difference on par with adding or removing a spoonful of sand from the beach.
The really bad news is that compliance costs have not gone away. They have merely been temporarily abated. If the reds who like to pretend they are green return to power, they will come back with a vengeance and then Stellantis will be in the same place it was circa 2023 when it pulled the Hemi for the sake of compliance.
Can it afford to do that again?
. . .
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On BMW’s equivalent to the Etorque system they actually turn off the engine and disconnect it from the drive line when coasting, especially down hill. Since all the power assisted systems are electric and the electrical system is 48v, they can accomplish this pretty seamlessly. I do not like these 48v mild hybrid systems.
IMO, Stellantis is just a holding pen until the European and US automotive industry are sent to the slaughter house and white European civilization (aka “Rome”) is is finally exterminated as the Jews have wanted for thousands of years since Titus destroyed the second temple to Solomon.
Perhaps that 250 amp Bosch alternator can double as a ram sized hood ornament ?
‘The returning Hemi will only be available with the “eTorque” mild-hybrid system.’ — eric
They just can’t resist tormenting us. For every grudging new benefit, a fresh affliction must be imposed.
The mild-hybrid system’s full name is eTorquemada, after Tomás de Torquemada, a notorious proponent of torture-extracted confessions and burning at the stake.
If only ol’ Tomás had had EeeVees available. Four hundred volts from their powerful batteries would have given his victims quite a jolt! 🙂
“They”? Name the Jew.
“eTorquemada, after Tomás de Torquemada”
Funny you would bring in the Spanish inquisition here. Ferdinand and Isabella were forced to use the Jesuits, who had not yet become infiltrated with C-Jews, in order to root out the Morannos who were Jews who made false conversions to Catholicism and were subverting Spain from with. The more things change the more they stay the same.
We need a 21st century Torquemada and a 21st century inquisition.
I have owned many Hemi-only vehicles, liked and enjoyed them. Currently own two.
I will not buy the e-torque version. I was very much hoping the hemi-only would return to the Grand Cherokee, and I don’t think the e-torque version will fit, so we’ll have to wait and see what they do. To offer only the same v6 in their up trim models is insane.
Blame the whole “greenhouse gas” bs on Venus’ atmosphere lol. It’s nearly 97% CO2 and much denser than ours. Venus doesn’t have a magnetic shield like we do, and it gets 2x the solar irradiance. All of which gives it a mean surface temp around 900’F.
Lefties were stupid (or smart) enough to seize on Venus and cry “look what’ll happen to us with all the CO2 from farting cows and V8s!”
At the heart of the matter is a government that imposes demands and regulations that it has not been given the authority to impose in the first place.
As long as government continues to usurp authority, the regulations and fines and demands and pressure will continue.
There may be a temporary reprieve-lite from the Donald, but it will not last.
Every unconstitutional entity out of DC needs to be wiped away so we can begin to acquire some of the freedom that is supposed to be our birthright.
Precisely. The founding fathers warned us to bind it down by the chains of the Constitution. The feral government, and the state governments, act as if the law does NOT apply to them. My favorite example is the second amendment, which makes it absolutely and abundantly clear that the people have the right to keep and bear arms. From toenail to tac nuke, the government has nothing to say about you owning, carrying, buying/selling, or using the tools needed to keep tyranny at a respectful distance, and intimidated.
This is not a democracy (communist rule by mob), a kritarchy (rule by credentialed judges), or an oligarchy (rule by rich, powerful, and evil folks). It is a republic, its member states are republics, where the individual rules himself and the government is only concerned with public things (res publica).
So when Trump does things which stymie, roll back, or cause the state to fight itself, then he is worthy of our enthusiastic report. When he exercises powers/privileges not explicitly granted by he Constitution, then he deserves our most resonant Bronx cheers, and our principled resistance.
When AGCO out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana had their syndicated radio show, Louis pointed out that most of the newer technology on cars will never save enough money in gasoline to pay for the cost of fixing it when it breaks.
Ram’s e-torque system would definitely be in the same category. The question becomes one of whether the truck can still function when the system fails or can the PCM be reprogrammed to “forget” it has it like some people do with diesel engines having DEF systems. Either way it’s good that the V8 is available again just not good that their forced to gimp it to be legal to sell.
Morning, Landru –
I don’t think the Hemi can run if the eTorque system isn’t working. There’s a belt-driven starter and I suspect that if that apparatus isn’t working, the engine probably can’t even be started.
Hi M.
I guess that means they probably made sure you couldn’t use the older starters and ring gears either then.
It’s a dedicated 48V motor-generator, some times it’s making electricity from the engine, like when you’re braking, sometimes it’s providing power back to assist the engine.
AFAIK they have a conventional 12V battery with a regular starter that you use to do the first start cold and run all the regular truck stuff.
The problem arise in that the hybrid motor-generator replaces the traditional alternator, so the 12V battery is charged from a DC-to-DC converter tapped from the 48V battery system.
If you disable or remove the hybrid system you’d have to retrofit an alternator and figure out what modifications to the wiring harness and such. Conceptually it’s simple but practically it may or may not be straightforward.