Ram CEO on Hemi's Return: 'I'm Not Ruling It Out'

If the Hemi does come back to the 1500, it won't happen right away.

Photo by: Stellantis

By: Christopher Smith

Jan 10, 2025 at 4:46pm ET

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Ram's former and current CEO Tim Kuniskis loves the Hemi V-8. Mention it and he'll wax poetic about the instant torque, the Hellcat's supercharger whine, and the music it makes when all eight cylinders are thundering. Now that he's back in mix, everyone wants to know the same thing. When is the Hemi coming back?

On that front: a whole lot of optimism mixed with a bit of bad news. Speaking to Motor1 at the 2025 Detroit Auto Show, Kuniskis didn't confirm anything. But he also told us straight up that he's "not ruling it out."

Pressed further, Kuniskis explained the challenges in resurrecting the familiar 5.7-liter Hemi V-8, the engine that he said powered 85 percent of half-ton Rams. The engine certainly still fits under the hood—the truck's physical design didn't change appreciably with the refresh. But its electrical systems have.

"Number one, the Hemi was never designed to run in that truck on that electrical architecture, so that’s a huge challenge," he said. "They shut down production on that particular Hemi, the eTorque. There's supplier work because when you shut something down, suppliers shut down their assembly lines, and they switch to something else."

That's the bad news, but even with that explanation, Kuniskis leaves the door wide open for the Hemi's return to the Ram 1500.

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"Even if you said let’s do it, we can’t do it right away," explained Kuniskis. "I didn't say you can't do it ... you can't do it right away."

With the standard-output 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six making 420 horsepower, a new Hemi option would likely have a similar output. Or, you can nix the half-ton pickup and get a new Ram HD where the 405-hp 6.4-liter Hemi still exists.