Dodge May Drop 900-hp Charger Banshee While Other Electrified Stellantis Models Are Also at Risk

Stellantis is backing away from its aggressive electrification plans. It’s already abandoned the all-electric Ram REV pickup and a plug-in hybrid version of the Jeep Gladiator. Now, it appears, the 900-hp Dodge Charger Banshee could be among other battery-based models set to be axed. Headlight.News has more.

While it was slow to embrace electrified powertrain technology, Stellantis had some big plans for the future, with an array of hybrids, plug-ins, range-extenders and pure battery-electric models coming to U.S. showrooms. But that all might be past tense. Since being named CEO earlier this year, Antonio Filosa has begun tearing up the playbook of his predecessor, Carlos Tavares.

We’ve already learned that the all-electric version of the Ram 1500, the REV, has been scuttled and Filosa also has shelved a plug-in hybrid version of the smaller Jeep Gladiator pickup.

Now, several sources suggest, the extreme performance version of Dodge’s all-electric muscle car, to be called the Charger Banshee, won’t see the light of day. And there may be other changes to follow, in some cases Stellantis shifting focus to gas-powered versions of products like the Jeep Recon, even if the original EV version dos make it into production.

Silencing the Banshee

When Dodge first announced the Charger Daytona back in 2022 it said there would be multiple versions which eventually became the R/T, the Scat Pack – both launched last year – and the Banshee. The original two use variants of a 400-volt, two-motor drivetrain delivering as much as 670 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. The Banshee was to use an 800-volt electrical architecture and, by various accounts, pump out anywhere from 900 to possibly more than 1,000 hp.

Until recently, at least, Banshee prototype production was scheduled to begin next May, with saleable models not likely to reach showrooms until early 2027, according to Sam Fiorani, lead analyst with AutoForecast Solutions. Now, however, there are reports Banshee could be abandoned.

Website Mopar Insiders quoted an “internal source” claiming Banshee has been cut from the company plans. For its part, the automaker will only say it “continues to reassess its product strategy.” That was the same thing it said prior to dropping the Ram REV.

Other electrified products are being dropped

So far, Stellantis is being circumspect about changes to its electrification strategy, apparently because that reassessment is a work in progress.

But we now that the planned Jeep Gladiator 4xe – which was to use a version of the plug-in hybrid technology found in Jeep’s Wrangler and Grand Cherokee 4xe packages – has been dropped.

Another known change: the Jeep Recon, originally intended to be offered exclusively in EV form, will now be introduced with a gas alternative, much as Dodge has done with Charger. If anything, “I think they’re going to focus on the gas-powered version” more than on the EV, Fiorani told Headlight.News.

We’re likely to see other changes downplay EV and other electrified drivetrains, he and other analysts now expect.

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“Impressive” change of direction

There’s a good reason why planners at Stellantis and, indeed, across the industry, are rethinking their electrification plans. In light of the fact that federal tax credits of up to $7,500 ended on September 30 – sales are expected to tumble in the months ahead.

The question they’ve had to consider is whether that downturn will be short-lived. A recent study by AutoPacifc, Inc.sees the EV market share could stumble along through the rest of the decade at barely 12%, down from an earlier forecast anticipating it would be nearly double that by 2029. Some analysts are more upbeat, J.D. Power data chief Tyson Jominy expecting to see the EV market back up to 20% by 2030. But that would still leave the market much weaker than once forecast for the next few years.

And that’s what Stellantis, under Filosa, is racing to adapt to. It has been “impressive” how “quickly” the Euro-American automaker has reshaped its electrification plans, said Fiorani.

Of course, it’s not alone. Among domestic manufacturers, General Motors has already delayed some product rollouts and adding plug-in hybrid versions of other models. Ford scrapped plans for a three-row SUV and delayed the replacement for the F-150 Lightning to focus on entry-priced models based off its new Universal EV platform. Most foreign-owned brands have also made extensive changes in EV plans. Nissan, for one, confirmed last month it was pulling the Ariya EV from production ahead of the 2026 model year. And we’re likely to see still more changes across the industry in the months ahead.