In an unsurprising move, given recent Stellantis launches, the Ram 1500 REV pickup will not be released until 2026. The company blamed slowing demand for half-ton electric pickups; Ford and Tesla have both had issues selling their products, albeit partly because Ford played pricing games and Tesla’s product has numerous flaws.
The surprise was moving the Ramcharger pickup forward to the first half of 2025. This uses a more complex serial hybrid or “extended-range” battery-electric truck first. This is a battery-electric EV with a gasoline-powered generator on board, in a format similar to “diesel” locomotives except that it can also be plugged in to top off the batteries.
Many in the allpar.com forums and social media expressed far more interested in the Ramcharger, which avoids “range anxiety.” The Ramcharger’s range is projected at up to 690 miles, with a 92 kW-hour battery pack and 130 kW generator. The design has two motors, with 250 kW up front and 238 kW in back. The Ram will have vehicle-to-vehicle charging, good for rescuing anyone who didn’t have enough range anxiety, as well as vehicle-to-home (or work-site) power. Top performance should be 4.4 seconds from 0 to 60 mph, with 663 hp and 615 lb-ft of torque—better than any Chrysler V8 aside from the Hellcat—and up to 14,000 pounds of towing capacity.
The Ramcharger, like the REV and gasoline powered Ram 1500, is to be made at the Sterling Heights plant north of Detroit.
The Ram 1500 REV prototype was shown at the 2023 New York Auto Show. Some reviewers of the new Dodge Charger EV complained of programming bugs, and both the Charger and Wagoneer S are being launched well after their planned dates; the Chrysler EV planned for 2025 has also been pushed back to 2026 along with all other Stellantis 800V electrics.
One analyst said it was better to delay the launch and make sure it was flawless, especially since sales of the Chevrolet, Ford, and Tesla electric pickups have not set the world on fire. He added that the company should be in a better position to detect and fix flaws when the truck was in the field, if they waited until former CEO Carlos Tavares’ work process changes were reversed before the launch.
The gasoline powered 2025 Ram 1500 pickup is at many showrooms and has won Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year award.
David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest, most comprehensive Mopar site in 1994 as he pursued a career in organizational research and change. After a chemo-induced break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales.
David Zatz has around 30 years of experience in covering Chrysler/Mopar news and history, and most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the Chrysler marque.
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