2026 Dodge Charger Continues to Wow the Critics, Will it Be the Car that Changes Auto Manufacturing?

I have written previously about the Dodge Charger winning a number of top awards. The vehicle has been highly praised since it debuted as a battery electric vehicle. However, since debuting as a gas-powered muscle car, it has swept the top awards and improved overall sales significantly.  Stellantis and Dodge has proven that it can build a platform that can support either pure electric or gas-powered but so far the technology does not appear to be catching on. 

The Dodge Charger’s Latest Awards

The 2026 Dodge Charger's most recent accolades include the 2026 MotorWeek Drivers’ Choice Best of Year and also the 2026 Best Sport Coupe Award. As I have recently reported, the Charger also won 2026 North American Car of the Year (NACTOY) and Car of the Year honors from TopGear.com, Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News.

MotorWeek honored the Charger last year as the Best Sport Coupe award winner. What makes the Charger so unusual is that all of the variations of the vehicle have the same underpinnings. The same STLA platform supports the internal combustion V-6 SIXPACK high-output engine. That muscle car gets 550-horsepower.  There is also a 420-horsepower Charger R/T with the standard output V-6. The all-electric Charger Daytona Scat Pack has the most horsepower with 670-horsepower. It may be the world’s quickest and most powerful muscle car but it didn’t sound like traditional muscle car and buyers didn’t warm up to it like Dodge had hoped.

All versions of the Dodge Charger have standard all-wheel-drive. Both the ICE and electric versions can have either two or four doors. All versions also have a hatchback, giving the vehicles incredible back seat legroom and cargo room.

“In the annals of American automotive history, there is no more sacrosanct species than that of the muscle car. But in the 2026 Dodge Charger, our MotorWeek Drivers’ Choice Best of the Year, Stellantis, through its hallowed Dodge brand, has reaffirmed the core values of Detroit’s finest for well into the future times two,” said John Davis, creator and host, MotorWeek. “Using imaginative engineering, while staying tied to what made muscle cars such an international icon in the first place, Dodge has managed to use a single chassis, with the same two- and four-door bodies, to please the tire-burning desires of both contemporary buyers that see the promise of electrification, as well as the legions of fans that want only gasoline running through their veins and their cars’ engines. The Dodge Charger Daytona shows that being a BEV can actually enhance street-legal high performance, while still appealing to all the senses. But to then follow that effort with the Dodge Charger SIXPACK, and its twin-turbo straight-six powerhouse, shows that from the first concept to this real deal duo, the designers never strayed from their responsibility to preserve, while adding to, the driven history of the American muscle car.”

“The new Dodge Charger represents the next chapter of American muscle, and it’s an incredible honor for our next-gen muscle car to be recognized by MotorWeek with both Best of the Year and Best Sport Coupe awards,” said Matt McAlear, Dodge CEO. “This recognition validates the Charger’s uncompromising performance, unmistakable design and cutting-edge technology, while staying true to the Dodge DNA our enthusiasts expect.”

What are Traditional Muscle Cars?

I worked for decades in the broadcast industry in Detroit, Michigan. While muscle cars were sold everywhere, they were especially popular in Detroit. Known as the Motor City, every year, there is an event called the Dream Cruise where enthusiasts bring out their high-horsepower models from the 1960s and 1970s. 

Traditional muscle cars were American-made, and usually two-door sports coupes. For some reason the two-door models were more collectible than the four-door models. The vehicles like Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Camaros, Dodge Chargers and Challengers were powered by big V-8 engines and were known for drag-racing from stoplight to stoplight on Woodward Avenue. Many were painted bright colors and had hood scoops for better air intake and wide tires for grip. The Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro have stayed in almost continual production since then, but vehicles like Pontiac GTOs and Oldsmobile 442s were phased out decades ago. Dodge phased out HEMI-powered Chargers and Challengers with final editions in 2023. 

Many fans are still hoping that Dodge will bring back a HEMI V-8 to the Dodge Charger lineup but I have been told repeatedly that the larger engine won’t fit in the current configuration of the Charger. It is clear that the Charger has proven that a single platform can be configured to support both electric versions and gas-powered versions of the same exact vehicle, which would suggest it could save automakers money. Other automakers don’t appear to be jumping on the bandwagon yet, choosing to produce electric and gas-powered vehicles that appear very different. For example, Ford is eliminating the F-150 Lightning entirely, rather than building both gas and electric versions of the same truck. 

Dodge Photo

Mary Conway is a professional automotive journalist and has decades of experience specializing in automotive news analysis. She covered the Detroit Three for more than twenty years for the ABC affiliate, in Detroit. Her affection for the Motor City comes naturally. Her father ran a gas station while Mary was growing up, in Wisconsin.

Follow Mary Conway at @MaryConwayMedia and send her car news tips for future stories.