At the end of last year, Ram's new CEO Tim Kuniskis decided to bring the Hemi V8 back to the 1500 pickup truck lineup. Now sure, the company can claim that customer demand dictated the decision, but putting a former Dodge and SRT dude at the helm clearly played a major part, too. This Christmas gift to gearheads necessarily required a bit of delayed gratification, though, since Ram then needed to figure out the logistics of how, exactly, to reintroduce the Hemi into a new generation of pickups.
Doing
so proved slightly more complex than expected, especially working on an accelerated timeline, because the latest generation of Ram's best-selling 1500 incorporates more electronic controls than ever before. The V8 might stay the same, but the ICE engine needs to interact with the eTorque hybrid system for everything from braking regen and traction control software to noise cancellation programming. Now, that truck will arrive for model year 2026, and Ram recently held a media drive to prove exactly why the company needed to cater to customers in such large numbers.
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Give It A Hemi, But Make It Hybrid
Perhaps emphasizing Ram's—and Kuniskis'—Dodge roots, the demo day included plenty of hilarity. Burnouts? Mandatory, all the better to accentuate the Hemi eTorque's 395 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque. We're straight back to early-2000s "That thang got a Hemi?" and towing up fiery ramp truck commercials, and I, for one, am totally here for it. Out of the total power ratings, the 48-volt hybrid system's 0.43-kilowatt-hour battery can power a 12-kilowatt belt-starter generator (purposefully designed to cosplay as a Hellcat supercharger, by my eye) that contributes up to 130 lb-ft of launch torque—even if the new 1500 features no line lock a la the Dodge Demon.
Instead, by selecting two-wheel drive and locking the rear diff, with Sport mode activated and traction control as switched off as possible, feathering the brake and hammering the throttle essentially tricked the computers into not killing power. Ram disallows the full defeat of ESC, but using the gear limit buttons to stick in 1st and 2nd helped to spin up those rear tires. It's not the easiest technique, clearly, but this pickup truck certainly managed to roast plenty of rubber on a hot morning. And that's not to mention the sound, since Ram also decided to ship the GT exhaust system as standard equipment.
What Is This, A Hellcat?
Nearby on a coned-off autocross circuit, further comedy ensued as media hustled the big crew-cabs around the pristine asphalt at top speed. I faked a launch control by left-foot braking, but even with the eTorque system, that V8 still needs to get up into the power band by about 25 miles an hour. Then I stomped on the brake, bringing on some light ABS chatter, and tried the first corner. The 1500 actually managed okay, with some expected nosedive and understeer through the wide sweeping righthander. A testament to the Ram's coilsprung rear end, though, the tail felt planted enough once I finished trail braking and tried to transition back onto throttle.
Unfortunately, these trucks lack paddle shifters, so once in the wrong gear, the only way to downshift was to trick the ECU by effectively flooring the gas pedal and unwinding the steering wheel until the engine opened up again. The interplay reminded me a bit of fooling with EVs while trying to drift, but once the power started flowing, I pushed harder into another increasing radius lefthander.
Autocross In A Pickup Truck Makes No Sense, But Lots Of Grins
Tires squealing and toasting, brakes chattering, big V8 bellowing—the Ram got the job done, even if absolutely nobody on hand could argue that the job itself was undeniably necessary. These little primers before heading out for stints on public roads proved that under heavy loads and ideal conditions, the V8 packaged with a mild hybrid system sounds good, delivers plenty of power, and integrates smoothly with the eTorque setup. And the V8 package only adds $1,200 for 2026, which includes that standard GT exhaust.
That number pales in comparison to the previous pricing on Mopar's website, at $1,700 for the exhaust alone or the Hemi as a standalone option at the tail end of the previous generation in 2024 for over $3,000. And all as the twin-turbo V6 engine dropped in price by $1,000. Now throw on the new 10-year/100,000-mile warranty. Talk about a heulluva deal, brother. Clearly, Ram wants to entice those claimed 40% of current 1500 owners who claimed they would switch to another manufacturer for their next purchase if no Hemi returned to the lineup.
GT Exhaust With Hybrid Refinement
Throughout the high-performance driving portion of the day, I never noticed any hiccups as the Hemi reintegrated with updated electronic controls. The system never seems to rely too heavily on either ICE or electric power, instead working together smoothly to deliver those little hits of instantaneous torque perfectly until the burbling exhaust indicates the Hemi raring to rumble. The effects only got better throughout the rest of the day's real-world driving on public roads.
Almost more importantly than the Hemi's soundtrack, in fact, the truck actually drives so silently that I almost forgot the V8 existed. Ram's noise cancellation must handle part of the job, but the eTorque assist also provides the grunt to satisfy little nudges into the throttle, which results in less strain on the ICE powerplant. Fuel economy, while not great at official ratings of 17 MPG city, 23 highway, and 19 combined, still comes out better than a full-ICE truck without doubt.
Is The eTorque Too Smooth For Hemi Fans?
I actually began to wonder, while cruising along in such serenity, whether Hemi fans might want more character, more exhaust bark, more noise in general. Unfortunately, to get that, I needed to drive more aggressively, unleashing my inner Charger and Challenger Hellcat bro spirit, only in pickup truck form. Doing so brought me back to the days of Ram's original street-sport pickup truck, the Li'l Red Express.
Clearly, mind games work on me, because Ram also brought out a Li'l Red Express on a trailer to serve as a towing demonstration. Loaded up, the classic truck on the lightweight trailer weighed 6,100 pounds total. The 2026 pickup absolutely dwarfs the ancestral variant, which served as a solid representation of average hauling against the Ram 1500 Hemi's total tow rating of 9,960 pounds (for this Long Horn Crew Cab trim with the 5'7" bed—a Tradesman bumps that figure up to 11,320 pounds).
Towing A Li'l Red Express
The Hemi eTorque battled aero and weight while towing just fine, delivering enough pep to get up to highway speeds without concern and even managing overtaking fairly easily. Of course, the ungodly torque of a Cummins diesel will do better in terms of both acceleration and fuel economy while towing, but for a Crew Cab 1500 that might double as an urban getabout or a modest trucky truck, the eTorque made up for most of any gap against the bigger HD options.
Then there's the off-roading packages, the new Warlock for the 2500 joins the lineup alongside the 1500 variant. I got to take an HD Warlock for a brief off-roading experience, rather than the 1500 Hemi, but suspect that the eTorque's easy modulation of power, plus the coilsprings, should go a long way toward smoothness—again, for modest trial running, rather than any hardcore rock crawling.
All The 2025 Details Carry Over
The rest of the 1500 carries over, which means a huge central touchscreen measuring up to 14.5 inches and loaded with functionality, the choice between 4x2 and 4x4 for multiple trims, which run from Tradesman at the entry level through Big Horn, Lone Star, Laramie, Rebel, Limited, and Long Horn. That Long Horn I towed the Lil Red Express with takes the cake, though, thanks to borderline excessively embroidered and embossed hides in quintessential Texas style with matching wood grain and faux dimpled plastics.
At least the Long Horn gets a nice metallic gear selector knob, which helps a lot to counter the revulsion I feel when any truck lacks a true shifter (jumping in the 2500 Warlock even reminded me that I prefer a column shifter to a knob).
2026 Ram 1500 Hemi eTorque Verdict: Everything's Computer After All
The point being, I suppose, that all this is electronic anyway. Electric assist for the return of a beefy V8, so much tech controlling drive modes and infotainment, even ride height adjustment for ideal towing aerodynamics. The irony of emphasizing the prehistoric Hemi's return in such a modernized pickup truck remains strong, and even more absurd given that the TRX's RHO replacement sticks with the Hurricane twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six putting down 540 horsepower and 521 lb-ft of torque—and just gets a new Magnaflow exhaust to maintain pride of place versus less performance-focused 1500 trucks with the V8 eTorque.
Maybe that'll change, too, given Kuniskis' clear proclivities. But in the meantime, on the volume trucks that actually move units, Ram needed to give the customers what they want. And we all want Hemis, apparently, even if it means sticking with a mild eTorque setup rather than pressing onward into more substantial plug-in hybrid capability or the endless power of full electrification.
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