Posted on 11/07/2023 6:06:24 AM PST by Red Badger
KEY POINTS
Stellantis plans to produce an industry-first pickup for its Ram Trucks brand that’s equipped with an onboard gas engine and electric generator.
The truck can operate as a zero-emissions EV until the vehicle’s battery dies and an electric onboard generator — powered by a 3.6-liter V6 engine — kicks on to power the vehicle after its initial charge.
Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis characterized the new Ram 1500 Ramcharger pickup as the “ultimate answer for battery-electric trucks.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Tungsten Ram DETROIT — Automaker Stellantis plans to produce an industry-first electric pickup truck called the Ram 1500 Ramcharger that’s equipped with an electric generator and a gas engine.
If that sounds like an oxymoron, here’s how it works: The truck can operate as a zero-emissions EV until its battery dies and an electric onboard generator — powered by a 27-gallon, 3.6-liter V6 engine — kicks on to power the vehicle.
The outcome is a truck with the benefits of an EV, such as fast acceleration and some zero-emissions driving, without the range anxiety synonymous with most current electric vehicles, according to Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis.
“This is the ultimate answer for the battery-electric truck. No one else has got anything else like it,” Kuniskis told reporters during an event. “This is going to be a game changer for battery-electric trucks.”
The 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger is expected to go on sale in late 2024 alongside a previously revealed all-electric Ram 1500 truck without a gas-powered engine or range-extending electric generator.
Stellantis estimates the range of the Ramcharger to be up to 690 miles, including up to 145 miles powered by a 92 kilowatt-hour battery when fully charged without the extended-range power from the gas engine and 130 kilowatt electric generator.
That range compares with up to an expected 500-mile range of the all-electric Ram 1500 REV pickup. It also tops the current Ram 1500, which has a 3.6-liter V-6 engine and an up to 26-gallon tank with a total range of up to 546 miles, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Stellantis did not announce pricing of the Ramcharger, which was revealed Tuesday as part of a redesign of current gasoline-powered Ram 1500 pickups for the 2025 model year.
‘Not a PHEV’ Kuniskis said the Ramcharger is meant as a bridge between traditional trucks with internal combustion engines and all-electric ones, which currently face significant hurdles regarding charging infrastructure and range anxiety, especially when the vehicles are towing — a main reason to purchase a truck.
Such improvements could be a differentiator for the brand, according to Stephanie Brinley, associate director of AutoIntelligence for S&P Global Mobility.
“It works to address the fact that right now the industry and the pickup truck segment in particular is not ready to just flip to EVs 100%,” she said. “It addresses some of those performance and range anxiety concerns, and it’s strong.— But the difficult part is going to be getting consumers to really understand what it does.”
2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Tungsten
Ram
Similar propulsion technology — referred to as extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs — is available in overseas markets, specifically China. It’s also similarly been offered in vehicles such as the discontinued Chevrolet Volt sedan from General Motors .
Stellantis engineers said the main difference between the technology of the Ramcharger and the Volt is that the truck is being exclusively propelled by electric motors, not the vehicle’s engine, once the battery dies. It’s also expected to be the first application of it in a production full-size pickup truck.
The Ramcharger features 663 horsepower and 615 foot-pounds of torque and can achieve 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.4 seconds, Stellantis said. The truck will be capable of bidirectional charging, where the vehicle acts as a generator to power appliances or even an entire home, the company said.
Kuniskis, who also leads Stellantis’ Dodge brand, declined to comment on whether the technology of the Ramcharger will be used in other vehicles. Other Stellantis brands include Chrysler, Jeep and Fiat in the U.S.
The Ramcharger operates differently from current plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, that offer a range of all-electric driving, followed by an engine powering the vehicle after the battery is depleted.
“The Ramcharger is not a PHEV,” Kuniskis said. “It’s a battery-electric truck with its own onboard, high-speed charger.”
“There’s no connection between the engine and the wheels,” he said. “The gas generator is only there to charge the battery.”
Ram’s truck strategy is different from its leading competitors GM and Ford Motor . The latter is offering traditional, hybrid and all-electric versions of its F-150 full-size truck, while GM has said it plans to transition from traditional trucks to electric ones without the use of hybrids.
Stellantis currently offers PHEV versions of vehicles such as the Chrysler Pacifica minivan and Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee SUVs.
Bye-bye Hemi
The design of the Ramcharger is a mix between the all-electric Ram 1500 REV and the refreshed gas versions of the traditional trucks, which will be available early next year.
The Ramcharger includes illuminated lines across its grille from the headlamps, new badging that debuted on the all-electric truck and other design and facia elements between the two.
For the traditional Ram 1500 models, the biggest change is the company is dropping its well-known Hemi V-8. Replacing the current 5.7-liter Hemi engine offered in the truck will be a twin-turbocharged, inline-six-cylinder engine called the Hurricane.
Ram’s 2023 Super Bowl ad debuts the production version of the Ram 1500 REV electric pickup that is expected to go on sale in late 2024. Screenshot
“Some customers are going to be upset that you’re not going to have a Hemi in there,” Kuniskis said. “Sure, the Hemi’s an absolute legend. Americans love the Hemi, but this thing flat out outperforms the Hemi.”
The 3.0-liter Hurricane engine is rated at 420 horsepower and 469 foot-pounds of torque, while a high-output version of the engine is rated at 540 horsepower and 521 foot-pounds of torque. That compares with the current V-8 Hemi at 395 horsepower and 410 foot-pounds of torque.
Inline-, or straight-, six-cylinder engines have been used in U.S. vehicles by automakers such as BMW and Jaguar, however, they’re far from mainstream in the U.S.
Other changes to the trucks include a new luxury model called Tungsten and a performance variant called RHO replacing Ram’s high-output TRX pickup that is equipped with a Hemi 6.2-liter V-8 capable of 702 horsepower and 650 foot-pounds of torque.
“Hybrid” can encompass several configurations. Toyota seems to have the best layout for passenger cars and SUVs. They use the electrics to provide primary propulsion with a small ICE to charge the battery and to provide extra or emergency propulsion.
Switching the primary and backup propulsion for trucks seems reasonable, but with such a large primary ICE or diesel, why bother with the extra complexity of the electrics? You basically have a hydrocarbon-based vehicle anyway ...
FUBAR
Isn’t that a “hybrid”?
“Maybe I’m overlooking something.”
Maybe it’s a matter of how much of your driving uses electricity from the grid, versus electricity from the onboard gas generator.
Perhaps a much smaller battery compensates for the weight of the gas-powered generator.
Stellantis is putting another option for us on the market. That’s a good thing.
A reverse hybrid................
Suppose it was simply a normal truck powered by a 6-cylinder piston engine.
Would you consider 3.6 liters displacement to be too much, not enough, or just right?
Cut through all the hype, and that's what it's doing ... it's using a piston engine to drive an electric generator to run electric motors to make the wheels spin. It's a railroad locomotive.
If I’m reading it right, it’s an interesting concept. Not sure I want it ... Absolutely sure I don’t want the government involved in it at all ... but it’s interesting.
A combination of clutch, torque converter, and differential is not the only way to get power from a piston engine to the drive wheels. The battery allows for regenerative braking, which may save enough fuel to pay for itself.
Cost per mile to operate vs ice only?
Diesel electric locomotive comes to mind.
btt
No it can't, it's an EV powered by fossil fuels most likely chole.
That’s an ugly vehicle.
What’s the weight of this beast??
It’s got to be quite heavy w/ the EV battery, the EV electric motor and the conventional ICE engine/battery charger and powertrain.
All kidding aside, about a year ago I read about a cross country off-road rig that did this with a fairly small set of batteries and a reliable good generator, probably a Honda, that just ran at a steady rpm like most generators do.
If I remember correctly this shop-built side by side rig could go over 2000 miles on one tank full of regular gas. It was made for off-road use so I assume the speed was kept under 40 mph most the time with occasional bursts of 50+ mph.
I believe this was a one-off built as proof of concept.
Here’s a company that manufactures hybrid side by side’s. https://www.huntve.com/copy-of-onrange-4x2-1
What is that, a 4-foot bed? Why bother with a pickup, then?
So it’s actually a hybrid with that starts with a small ICE while the rest of the powertrain is all-electric. Ineffecient but simple to engineer.
I cut out the middleman. My 2014 Corolla has a 1.6 liter ICE that is directly coupled to the transmission! How’s that for technology?
Seems to me it’s effectively an inverted hybrid.
Yes.....................
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.