Ram 1500 Charger - 2025

[FLRifleman]

Dodge has announced the Ram 1500 Ramcharger which is slated to be released toward the end of 2024, or within 2025. It will operate like a Chevy Volt. It will provide 145 EV miles, then a V-6 Pentastar engine will kick in to act as a generator supplying electricity for the drive-train from there. Those engines are proven to have great long-term reliability. It seems like it would be a perfect "do it all" EV truck.

Quick Specs:
145 mile EV range
3 digital screens (driver, center, and passenger)
2,625 payload
14,000 towing

2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger channels Chevy Volt tech

2025 is looking to be a great year for the truck space from multiple manufacturers.

 

[swaltner]

This would be a great option if it’s sold for $50k. With pricing on ICE pickups, I don’t see that as likely. I expect another one of these $75-100k beasts. If so, I don’t understand the point. I’d rather just have an R1T with a max pack for decent range while towing.

I keep waiting for an affordable PHEV pickup or 400-mile EV pickup to get released to consumers for my light towing needs.

 

[E90alex]

The idea is good for some use cases as BEV trucks aren't ideal for everything (eg long distance towing).

I think they could have halved the battery size and range to reduce weight and increase efficiency. Most people don’t need 145 mi range in a day.

 

[FLRifleman]

Yes, the price will be the key factor, and we won't know that number for probably a year.

It eliminates any towing range concerns. You're all electric on a normal daily basis, but you also have full capability when towing, driving long distance, using it to power a camper, or as emergency backup for the home.

 

[ThomasD]

It will be great if the specs pan out.

 

[Cosmacelf]

If they can make a bunch, and can actually sell it at MSRP, then it’ll sell well. But those are big Ifs.

 

[fhteagle]

Most people don’t need 145 mi range in a day.

I would bet the battery pack size that they chose has more to do with keeping the C rate down while supplying both motors at maximum amperage.

 

[gtae07]

I think they could have halved the battery size and range to reduce weight and increase efficiency. Most people don’t need 145 mi range in a day.

Lop 30-40% off that for battery longevity/daily use and you're getting closer to daily driving range for a lot of people. I know folks like to cite that "35 mile average daily use" figure but it seems they also forget that ~50% of driving will be longer...

 

[Samurai51]

I have to agree with Sandy on this one. It basically only makes sense if you are regularly towing a heavy trailer over long distances where charging infrastructure is limited. Otherwise, the F-150 Lightening is a better value.

But all that range! 690 miles ~ 10 hours driving non-stop! "Quite frankly, you have to pee."

Most consumer just won't need that big of and heavy of an ICE for typical daily use. Plus you have the complication of two different propulsion systems and no frunk.

 

[E90alex]

Most consumers (and especially EV haters) don’t think rationally. The vast majority of drivers would meet their daily driving needs with something like a Nissan leaf or Mini Cooper SE.

However people think oh what if I decide I want to visit my great aunt that I haven’t seen in 10 years in the dead of winter and she lives 12 hours away! So think they need an EV with 500+ miles of range.

 

[MacO512]

I just put a $100 deposit down on this, its a great concept!

Its a full EV truck with yes only ~150 miles of pure EV range. But for 98% of my driving thats more than I need.

But on a huge trip or especially towing where range is halved or less it has about 700 miles of combined gas/EV range! it has a 3.6L V6 that has zero mechanical connection to the road and is effective just a big generator sitting inside the frunk.

Also has a much smaller ~92KWH EV battery vs some of these full size trucks with 200+kwh batteries. So we'll have to see - weight might be very similar to comparable full EV trucks.

Its way better concept than hybrids with all the complexities of both a gas/EV vehicle - all the downsides of both and the advantages of neither.

Doing long road trips this would greatly reduce long stops needed to charge a 100+KWH pack - and avoid limitations of needing to be close to DC fast chargers. Can charge when its convenient but get gas for those rare times its not.

Super excited to hear more about this in 2025. Not sure I'll actually go through with purchasing it as Stellantis/Chryslier/etc aren't my favorite... but its one of the best concepts I've seen in recent years with a lot of stale lame ICE/EV designs.

 

[MacO512]

I have to agree with Sandy on this one. It basically only makes sense if you are regularly towing a heavy trailer over long distances where charging infrastructure is limited. Otherwise, the F-150 Lightening is a better value.

But all that range! 690 miles ~ 10 hours driving non-stop! "Quite frankly, you have to pee."

Most consumer just won't need that big of and heavy of an ICE for typical daily use. Plus you have the complication of two different propulsion systems and no frunk.

Have you tried driving through rural areas in an EV with a trailer? How are you going to charge that - even with Tesla opening superchargers it might take 20 minutes to unhook the trailer- 50 minutes to charge close to 100% (needed with range hit while towing), another 20 mintues to hook the trailer back up. Congratulations - you've turned a 5 hours ICE drive into a 12 hour EV nightmere.

Even without towing - just being able to do a long trip and not be forced to DC fast charge is a ton of freedom. Yeah I might need to stop to pee, but I can stop at a nice restaurant instead of being forced to eat the shitty fast food that is the only walking distance option from the supercharger.

For the other 98% of days where I'm not road tripping the ramcharger is used as a pure EV and uses no gas.

I hope one day we get to where theres as many DC fast chargers that work with all cars as gas stations. But for the next 20 years before that happens... some vehicles like this could be a MAJOR beneficial option.

 

[Cal1]

You guys do get that this is a hybrid and not a true ev right?

 

[MacO512]

You guys do get that this is a hybrid and not a true ev right?

It's a true EV with a gas generator engine. It's not a conventional hybrid - the engine has no mechanical connection to the wheels. The engine's only function is to generate electricity.

 

[MacO512]

It's basically a production version of what this guy did to his Tesla;

 

[E90alex]

You guys do get that this is a hybrid and not a true ev right?

It’s technically a range extended EV, like the BMW i3 REx. The driveline is 100% EV and the ICE only recharges the battery.

 

[Samurai51]

Have you tried driving through rural areas in an EV with a trailer? How are you going to charge that - even with Tesla opening superchargers it might take 20 minutes to unhook the trailer- 50 minutes to charge close to 100% (needed with range hit while towing), another 20 mintues to hook the trailer back up. Congratulations - you've turned a 5 hours ICE drive into a 12 hour EV nightmere.

Even without towing - just being able to do a long trip and not be forced to DC fast charge is a ton of freedom. Yeah I might need to stop to pee, but I can stop at a nice restaurant instead of being forced to eat the shitty fast food that is the only walking distance option from the supercharger.

For the other 98% of days where I'm not road tripping the ramcharger is used as a pure EV and uses no gas.

I hope one day we get to where theres as many DC fast chargers that work with all cars as gas stations. But for the next 20 years before that happens... some vehicles like this could be a MAJOR beneficial option.

Ehhh, we may be talking past each other.
2nd sentence of my first paragraph "It basically only makes sense if you are regularly towing a heavy trailer over long distances where charging infrastructure is limited." First sentence of my final paragraph "Most consumer just won't need that big of and heavy of an ICE for typical daily use."

So the use-case you described in detail does fit this Ram truck very well. If Ram makes it and sells enough to make a profit, good for them. However, the vast majority of pickup trucks sold in the US will never (or almost never) encounter that scenario. What is more common (though still not a majority) is lighter towing over shorter distances. In which case a bigger battery and a smaller ICE extender would probably do just fine for most.

 

[Cal1]

It’s technically a range extended EV, like the BMW i3 REx. The driveline is 100% EV and the ICE only recharges the battery.

Yea the base i3 was a battery ev. The extend version was a hybrid just like a Toy Prius. Here’s Toyota’s website. 2024 Toyota Prius | Toyota.com

Gee right on the front page it says hybrid. There are other hybrids and that’s not bad. It’s just not in the same thing as a Lightning or CT with an extended battery. There’s a difference between an ice motor extending a battery and a battery extended ev.

The CT with the extender battery will obviously not be a hybrid. Nobody combines true ev with hybrids. They are always separated out. BYD is huge in the hybrid world. While total production surpassed Tesla, BYD manufactured 1.6 million battery-only passenger cars and 1.4 million hybrids, putting Tesla on top for battery-only production. (Pasted from web search). This is why everyone is very concerned with BYD’s impact when they get here.

 

[E90alex]

Sure you can technically consider it a hybrid since it uses two energy sources, but there’s more nuance to it and there’s a big difference in how the i3 REx vs Prius operate so it’s a bit disingenuous to lump them together.

PHEV can still use the ICE to mechanically drive the wheels.

REEV are purely driven by electric motors with no physical connection between the wheels and the ICE.

By your logic if someone puts a gas generator in the bed of a CT to charge it, it’s now a hybrid.

 

[buckets0fun]

Yea the base i3 was a battery ev. The extend version was a hybrid just like a Toy Prius. Here’s Toyota’s website. 2024 Toyota Prius | Toyota.com

Gee right on the front page it says hybrid. There are other hybrids and that’s not bad. It’s just not in the same thing as a Lightning or CT with an extended battery. There’s a difference between an ice motor extending a battery and a battery extended ev.

The CT with the extender battery will obviously not be a hybrid. Nobody combines true ev with hybrids. They are always separated out. BYD is huge in the hybrid world. While total production surpassed Tesla, BYD manufactured 1.6 million battery-only passenger cars and 1.4 million hybrids, putting Tesla on top for battery-only production. (Pasted from web search). This is why everyone is very concerned with BYD’s impact when they get here.

The i3 REX was a hybrid if the karma/volt is a BEV.

The i3 REX had a generator like the ram truck will.