V8 engines stage a comeback in EV mandate protest as Ram 1500 Hemi resurrected with new badge
With direct combustion engine bans to spearhead electric car development proving unpopular with automakers and car buyers alike, GM and others have decided to resurrect the V8 engine that fell the first victim of EV and emission mandates.
The move comes as a response to the slump in electric vehicle demand and as the new White House administration prepares to dismantle the EV tax credit system as well as prolong or remove the gas engine phaseout mandates in the US.
Stellantis announced that it will bring back its popular 5.7-liter Hemi to the Ram 1500 pickup engine portfolio. Ram's CEO Tim Kuniskis apologized for shrinking the powertrain choices for the American pickup buyer by removing the V8 engine, saying that "Ram screwed up when we dropped the Hemi... we own it, and we fixed it."
The V8 Hemi will be a $1,200 option offered in parallel with the crammed and complex twin-turbo Hurricane engine that Stellantis developed to comply with both the government's emissions and buyers' horsepower demands. The new badge for a Ram 1500 with a V8 under the hood will now be a ram busting out of a Hemi engine cylinder block that is called "Symbol of Protest" against EV and emission mandates, as per Kuniskis.
Ram will continue to offer the more powerful and more efficient Hurricane Straight Six Turbo, but we heard loud and clear from consumers: there is no replacement for the iconic HEMI V-8. At the end of each month, we count sales to customers, not statisticians or ideologues.
Despite that it is not known for the quality of its V8 engines in comparison with not only Toyota but Stellantis, too, GM also said that it will bet on the V8 concept for the future instead of phasing that powertrain option out. It will build its new generation of V8 engines by investing $888 million in the Tonawanda factory near Buffalo, NY.
The move comes in expense of the $300 million electric vehicle motor production that GM planned for the same factory, despite that CEO Mary Barra reiterated the automaker's commitment to electric vehicles.
We still believe in an all EV future. EVs are fundamentally better. We have work to do to continue to get the battery technology to give us the greater density so we have further range. We need a robust charging infrastructure. But having a next-generation V8 was always part of our plan.
For Stellantis, the resurrection of the Ram 1500 Hemi engine comes as it postponed the all-electric version of the truck yet again, citing uncertain EV market conditions.
