Ram adding extended-range EV, freshens 1500 with new engines

Ram has created an electric pickup truck that can tow and haul without range anxiety. The 2025 1500 Ramcharger is an electric vehicle with an onboard gasoline generator to charge the battery.

Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis said the pickup, which can go 690 miles at a time, serves as a bridge to electrification for those whose concerns about range and charging infrastructure would keep them away from the fully electric Ram 1500 REV — which will have a standard battery pack with a targeted 350-mile range and an optional 229-kWh battery pack with up to 500 miles of range. The Ramcharger has 145 miles of all-electric range.

"For those people, we have what I believe is the ultimate answer for battery-electric trucks," Kuniskis said at a media unveiling last week.

Stellantis had intended to show the Ramcharger and a freshened version of the conventional Ram 1500 at the Los Angeles Auto Show this month, but it pulled out of the event as a cost-savings measure because of the UAW strike. The updated 1500, which goes on sale in early 2024, has a new top-end luxury trim and gets new Hurricane inline-six engine options.

The Ramcharger is built on the STLA Frame architecture that's designed for full-size EVs. Performance targets include a 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, 663 hp, more than 615 pound-feet of torque and a best-in-class 14,000 pounds of towing.

Ram said power flows from the 3.6-liter V-6 Pentastar engine to a 130-kilowatt generator. The engine, drawing from a 27-gallon gasoline tank, produces mechanical power that is converted to electrical power by the generator.

This electrical power can be used to recharge the 92-kilowatt-hour battery or to preserve battery power for later.

The 250-kW front electric drive module and 238-kW rear electric drive module can use the generator's electrical power plus the battery to provide maximum power to the wheels, Ram said. Because all the propulsion comes from electricity and there is no direct mechanical path from the engine to the wheels, Ram says it's an EV rather than a plug-in hybrid.

"It is a battery-electric truck with its own onboard high-speed charger," Kuniskis said. "There is no connection between the engine and the wheels. The battery drives the [electric drive modules], the EDMs drive the wheels. The gas generator is only there to charge the battery."

Doug Killian, chief vehicle synthesis manager for the Ramcharger, said the truck has several modes to manage the power. In electric+ mode, the generator recognizes when the battery level is dipping and starts to replenish it, he said.

"We have these power sources here — the generator and the battery — working together. That's the electric+," Killian said. "What that electric+ mode will do is work the battery down to a lower state of charge."

If the customer wants to save the electric range for later use and take full advantage of the stored 92-kWh of battery power at a job site, for example, there is e-save mode. With e-save, Killian said the generator will be "doing its business in the background quietly" to keep the battery charged and ready to go.

There is also eco mode, which optimizes range.

Drivers needing a quick boost in range can add up to 50 miles in about 10 minutes with 400-volt DC fast charging at up to 145 kW.

The Ramcharger is one of three extended-range EVs listed in the UAW's tentative agreement with Stellantis as being in the company's product pipeline. The union's summary of the deal shows "range electric paradigm breaker" variants of the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer coming in 2025 and a Wrangler version slated for 2028.

Like the fully electric Ram 1500 REV, the Ramcharger offers a 14.5-inch touchscreen to command the infotainment system and a 10.25-inch screen on the passenger side to control navigation, device management and entertainment options via a high-definition multimedia interface. The passenger display also can show views from the exterior cameras.

The top-end Tungsten trim level aims to deliver an ultrapremium experience that doesn't stray from its hardworking roots. It comes with 24-way driver and front passenger seats that are heated, ventilated and include memory settings, a massage function, power lumbar support and four-way powered headrests.

The truck has a Klipsch Reference Premiere audio system with 23 speakers in addition to all-new dual wireless chargers.

On the outside, the Ramcharger has a new EV-specific LED taillight design. The grille sports a lit Ram logo like the REV and has an evolved "tuning fork" lighting aesthetic adapted from the REV and the Revolution concept shown at CES in January, said Jeff Aneiros, Ram's chief exterior designer.

"If you see a Ram, whether it's coming at you or you're following it, you know that with these lit elements that it's an electrified Ram product," Aneiros said.

The updated gasoline-powered Ram 1500 is coming to market next year with new engine options from Stellantis' Hurricane line. It will offer standard and high-output 3.0-liter Hurricane twin-turbocharged engines along with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 eTorque.

The standard Hurricane is rated at 420 hp and 469 pound-feet of torque, while the high-output engine is rated at 540 hp and 521 pound-feet.

The high-output variant, which tops the Hemi V-8 engine by 145 hp and 110 pound-feet of torque, will become available in the RHO model arriving in the third quarter of 2024. The other two engine options will be available in the first quarter when the truck launches.

"Some customers are going to be upset that you're not going to have a Hemi in here," Kuniskis said. "The Hemi is an absolute legend — Americans love them. But this thing flat-out outperforms the Hemi that you have today."

The freshened 1500 builds on the brand's reputation for swanky interiors with the introduction of the Tungsten trim level also seen in the REV and Ramcharger.

The truck has a 14.5-inch center touchscreen, 10.25-inch passenger screen, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, digital rearview mirror and a head-up display. It also has a dual wireless phone charging pad and allows owners to use their smartphones as a key.

"Our objective was to raise the benchmark for pickup truck interiors," said Jon Gaudreau chief designer for Ram interiors. "We did that through advanced technology, premium textures, colors and materials, and enhanced functionality."