Dodge ram rambox truck rack12/24/2023 ![]() ![]() Even then, they still seem inadequate to some potential buyers. But bigger packs mean more weight, more cost and sometimes lower payload limits (as on the Silverado EV). The solution to building electric trucks with acceptable ranges, so far, has been ever-larger battery packs. BEVs are at their most efficient on city streets, where power use is low and braking energy can be recaptured but at their least efficient when towing at speed on the highway. While this idea sometimes seemed superfluous on a tiny city car like the i3, it’s well suited to a pickup truck.īig heavy trucks need lots of energy, and towing is the most energy-intense use of any vehicle. In a series hybrid, the onboard combustion engine is completely disconnected from the driveline and serves only to charge the vehicle’s battery. It’s derived from lessons learned from the i3 and Ford F-150 Lightning but, as Ram brand CEO Tim Kuniskis said at last week’s event, “Nobody else has anything like it.”Īlthough hybrid cars and trucks have proliferated over the past 20 years, series hybrids (also called Range-Extended Electric Vehicles or REEVs) are rare and only the i3 and a handful of Japanese-market Nissans have truly used this setup (though the Chevy Volt came close). ![]() Stellantis hasn’t moved as quickly as Ford and GM on building electric pickups, which will serve it well on the Ramcharger. It carries a 92 kWh battery pack within its frame (to the REV’s 168 or optional 229 kWh packs) and drives the wheels with a pair of electric motors. Indeed, the onboard charger is a version of the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 that powers the base-model gas-powered 1500, but the drive architecture of the truck is closely related to the REV. Revealed at a private event last week showcasing the entire 20 lineup, the Ramcharger is intended as a bridge between the gas-powered 1500s and the fully electric Ram 1500 REV. It’ll certainly cure range anxiety, but price anxiety? We’ll see. ![]() Like the i3, the Ramcharger is a series hybrid, an EV with a gas-powered onboard charger, in this case, a big V6. Now the concept is back, writ large, on the 20 Ramcharger. A repurposed motorcycle engine, the extender gave the funky i3 a gas-powered safety net when the battery ran low, but BMW dropped it in favor of a bigger battery in 2019. In hindsight, it’s surprising that until now no automaker has emulated the BMW i3’s optional range extender. An onboard generator, in the form of a 3.6-liter V6, can charge the battery while on the move. The 20 Ramcharger is a battery-electric pickup truck, but one with a very compelling extra feature. ![]()
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