How does the 2023 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat meet tightening emissions requirements?

The three-row Hellcat has risen from the lifeless.

On Monday, the 2023 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat was introduced with the identical 710-hp supercharged 6.2-liter Hellcat V-8 engine because the 2021 mannequin that the corporate mentioned could not meet emissions requirements. However how? It wasn’t magic. As a substitute, it took some effort by the engineering group.

“Similar energy, identical automobile, they received actual good and figured it out,” Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis mentioned at a background occasion for the automotive media.

When Dodge introduced the 2021 Durango SRT Hellcat as a 180-mph household hauler in 2020, Kuniskis was clear with Motor Authority: The Durango Hellcat would stay for one single mannequin yr and die. The explanation was the Hellcat’s supercharged V-8 powertrain within the Durango’s platform would not meet new EVAP emissions necessities that have been set to get into impact for the 2022 mannequin yr.

And but, the car meets these requirements for the 2023 mannequin yr. Nothing has modified with the foundations.

Dodge spokesperson Dave Elshoff advised MA the engineering group “improved the gas system to fulfill LEVIII zero evaporative emissions, that are required for the 2023 mannequin yr and past.”

To do that, the group made mechanical modifications to the gas tank, gas filler, and carbon canister.

Whereas Dodge needed to higher management the evaporative emissions from the Durango Hellcat, the gas programs within the Charger and Challenger Hellcats, that are constructed on a distinct platform, have met laws. Similar goes for the Ram 1500 TRX.

When Dodge introduced the Durango Hellcat in 2020, Kuniskis mentioned it will solely be constructed for six months. That left sufficient time to screw collectively fewer than 2,000 models, making the Durango SRT Hellcat rarer than the Dodge Demon.

However Dodge ended up building 3,000 2021 Durango SRT Hellcats, which nonetheless made it rarer than the Demon however solely by 300 models. The automaker claimed it was in a position to transfer some supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 Hellcat engines from different automobiles to make sure each “offered order” within the system received constructed.

Elshoff advised MA the 2023 Durango SRT Hellcat won’t be a quantity restricted mannequin, however the automaker will steadiness Hellcat quantity between this and the particular final version fashions. When requested if the the Durango SRT Hellcat would stick round past 2023 Kuniskis advised the media “solely 2023 mannequin yr for now.” Elshoff advised MA, “it is one yr, however we hope for extra.”

The final time we drove the 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat we deemed it was in a class of one. Now that class of 1 will stay a bit longer.

As for the way lengthy the Charger and Challenger Hellcats will final, Kuniskis confirmed to MA at the 2021 LA auto show, they would die after 2023. “I’ll have this automobile (referring to each), this platform, this powertrain as we all know it by means of the tip of ’23. There’s two extra years to purchase a Hellcat, then it is historical past.” He was referring to the Dodge Challenger and Charger. Each of which is able to die after 2023 and not be replaced with a V-8-powered vehicle. An electrical muscle automobile will arrive in 2024 because the direct substitute.