New 2025 Ram and Ramcharger PHEV Hybrid revealed

[HyperionMark]

I would think with proper navigation the system would know when to start and at what power level to run the generator. And if that was true it could get by with a smaller/cheaper (more efficient?) generator. Seems like they may be trying to over-engineer to serve 100% of use cases.

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[Donald Stanfield]

I see the utility, just not the practicality. The majority of people who buy these at first will never see the payback with those figures.

Trip charging is about to get a lot better next year when most of the super chargers open up.

Me personally, I’m not looking tor a complex Swiss Army knife bev. I have an ice car for things bev’s don’t do well and a bev for thibgs

Sure trip charging is getting better but it still won't be as fast as ICE. It really depends on how you road trip. For me personally I used the full capability of ICE meaning I would only stop for fuel and then only long enough to fill the tank. I'd pee while the tank was filling so 10 min at most stops.

Even if the supercharger is right off the interstate it still takes 45 min instead of 10. Like I said I have my first long trip planned with my R1 next weekend. I took a shorter trip with it earlier this year and charging wasn't even a noticeable event. I acknowledge the extra time to stop and stretch out that charging requires might just be a welcome addition instead of doing it the way I have in the past.

If that turns out to be the case the Ramcharger won't be useful for me but if I wind up hating stopping for that extra time my only choice is to buy something like a Ram charger until solid state batteries become a thing. Then I don't lose out on the way an EV drives with the one pedal and instant acceleration but I still get the distance functionality.

So really this next trip will determine whether or not I'm in the market for this ram PHEV or not. I had a Ram ecodiesel in the past and I really liked the truck and the brand so I'm not afraid to go back there as much as I like my R1. I love the way an EV drives but if the extra charging time is an issue there's no way around it with current battery tech.

 

[SDH]

... but with the added price, complexity, and maintenance costs I don't see it making good sense.

Complexity and maintenance costs? I going to politely disagree with you here.

I think that the "ease of maintenance" is a well worn trope from the EV vs. ICE debate and if my experience of my Rivian and Tesla is anything to go by, EV's are turning out to be more of a maintenance/running cost hassle than ICE. And this is before we get 5-8yrs down the line when warranties run out and the $ will rack up.

ICE is analog and on the whole, pretty easy to repair and maintain. An oil change now and then ain't hard.

You pays your money, you takes your choice, I guess.

 

[AllInev]

Looks like there is a locker on the new ram REV and Ramcharger

This is going to bring a lot of people around to EV trucks. I will probably order one too.

There is a famous quote (somewhat dubiously) attributed to Henry Ford: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

 

[Tahoe Man]

If I towed more or traveled a long distance, the Ramcharger would fit my needs better than the R1T. The 150-mile range is more than enough for my day-to-day usage; I rarely take more than 20% of my battery from my R1 and rarely more significant than 30%. The fuel economy isn't excellent, but that's not what makes the ICE option suitable. It's not about being more efficient than a BEV. It's about not dealing with fast chargers on long trips or while towing.

I don't get the people who aren't seeing the utility here. The worst part of having a BEV is the charging infrastructure. It isn't a deal breaker because I charge at home almost exclusively. This Ram would mean I never had to deal with a fast charger as long as I owned it because I'm either charging at home or using a gas station. Honestly, with my wife getting the i4 M50, this truck is a real possibility for me as it should still drive like a BEV but cover us for trips. I plan on looking into this.

I think phev are a great compromise. We driven 150k miles on two of them. What's great is you drive 80-90% on electric. When going on road trip, you don't worry about charging, there's no planning, no stress. No dealing with broken or slow chargers either.

I would think for a pickup the benefits are even greater. You'll be able to tow a travel trailer or whatnot and not have to disconnect and spend over an hour to charge every 120 miles. The pickup will function as an actual pickup.

Get back home and drive back on electric with your local trips.

 

[Davethadog]

There is a famous quote (somewhat dubiously) attributed to Henry Ford: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

He was also a Narcissistic Nazi who took credit for the innovations of his employees.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

He was also a Narcissistic Nazi who took credit for the innovations of his employees.

Wow that's just a wonderful Ad hominem you got there. Care to make a legitimate refutation of what was said or are you just going to keep throwing shit against a wall.

For the record I couldnt care less about your actual disagreement with the other guy I just cannot stand such shitty reasoning.

 

[izgoy]

He was also a Narcissistic Nazi who took credit for the innovations of his employees.

That he was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_German_Eagle

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Please tell us how it went. I'm sure you won't have an issue getting from one DC charger to the next along your route, I would like to hear an honest opinion about how convenient it was to travel in a Rivian, and if there were certain things along your trip you couldn't do because there was no convenient or any charging facilities to make a scenic detour that you would have made otherwise.

I myself have traveled plenty in both non-Tesla and Tesla EVs on long road trips to form an opinion, but I really would like to hear how it feels in a Rivian, provided there are RAN chargers at certain places that other non-Tesla EVs can't use.

I didn't realize you were asking me a legitimate question. I apologize for the snark in my previous response. I plan on making a post about my trip up. I went 2 hours from home earlier this year and only had to fast charge once. The R1T was an excellent travel vehicle in that regard. I will be happy to give my take on a thousand-mile trip.

 

[MXA121]

Complexity and maintenance costs? I going to politely disagree with you here.

I think that the "ease of maintenance" is a well worn trope from the EV vs. ICE debate and if my experience of my Rivian and Tesla is anything to go by, EV's are turning out to be more of a maintenance/running cost hassle than ICE. And this is before we get 5-8yrs down the line when warranties run out and the $ will rack up.

ICE is analog and on the whole, pretty easy to repair and maintain. An oil change now and then ain't hard.

You pays your money, you takes your choice, I guess.

Come on, an ICE is way more intensive to maintain than an EV. Maybe you had a bad experience with your EVs - but it wasn't maintenance.
Just the idea of regular oil changes, annual emissions testing, and regular fuel visits makes me really appreciate the simplicity of an EV (and that's excluding issues outside the typically short ICE warranty including spark plugs, engine air filters, injectors, oil leaks, etc.). It makes it difficult to ever consider going back to ICE.

All that said, I think the Ramcharger is a good move from Stellantis. They have a unique and functional product on their hand that will aid EV adoption and satisfy the towing crowd. Pretty smart.

 

[SANZC02]

Complexity and maintenance costs? I going to politely disagree with you here.

I think that the "ease of maintenance" is a well worn trope from the EV vs. ICE debate and if my experience of my Rivian and Tesla is anything to go by, EV's are turning out to be more of a maintenance/running cost hassle than ICE. And this is before we get 5-8yrs down the line when warranties run out and the $ will rack up.

ICE is analog and on the whole, pretty easy to repair and maintain. An oil change now and then ain't hard.

You pays your money, you takes your choice, I guess.

Really curious what maintenance cost you have in your EVs. I’ve had my Model S over 7 years and only maintenance I’ve had was replacing the tires.

 

[pricedm]

The pickup truck market is sensitive to range because of towing. They're also sensitive to the current reality that having to charge while towing can be a huge pain in the ass, since the vast majority of charging stations don't support charging while having a trailer attached. There's definitely an untapped market here and right now, RAM is the only one with an entry in it.

For those who tow, I pretty much agree.

For personal towing, yes I can see the use case for battery + liquid fuel. Hopefully this will change in the not-distant futre. For passenger cars, local commercial delivery (Rivian EDV), or long-haul with infrastructure (Tesla Semi), BEV all the way.

My brother purchased a Chevy 3500 diesel to tow his mid-20FT boat from AZ to CA and Mexico. Their prior vehicle (SUV) wasn't stable for the weight of the boat. He would like a BEV truck, not some goofy liquid fuel/battery mash-up. But...at this point, the might-some-day-be released Chevy Silverado EV and the Rivian are the only EVs with 400 mile range specs. Reduce range by 50% when towing....makes this RAM thing start to look plausible.

 

[LoneStar]

For those who tow, I pretty much agree.

For personal towing, yes I can see the use case for battery + liquid fuel. Hopefully this will change in the not-distant futre. For passenger cars, local commercial delivery (Rivian EDV), or long-haul with infrastructure (Tesla Semi), BEV all the way.

My brother purchased a Chevy 3500 diesel to tow his mid-20FT boat from AZ to CA and Mexico. Their prior vehicle (SUV) wasn't stable for the weight of the boat. He would like a BEV truck, not some goofy liquid fuel/battery mash-up. But...at this point, the might-some-day-be released Chevy Silverado EV and the Rivian are the only EVs with 400 mile range specs. Reduce range by 50%....makes this RAM thing start to look plausible.

You're pretty much on-point. I am a "tow-er." I have a 6,000 lb adventure trailer. Towed it over 3,000 miles so far. It's not just the range hit - which is HUGE - but also the disruptions and extra time it takes to find and charge-up at L3's. Future use of Supercharger stations will absolutely help that.

Furthermore the Rivian is 400V battery tech so the task of charging battery up north of 85% takes a long time. Having a 400 mile battery would just increase that time (still, I'd take it had it been available when I got the R1S).

Hey, I'm not a hater! I'm on my second Rivian. Its just the whole vision image of taking my trailer by electric power only all over the country has shortcomings in today's real world.

 

[pricedm]

You're pretty much on-point. I am a "tow-er." I have a 6,000 lb adventure trailer. Towed it over 3,000 miles so far. It's not just the range hit - which is HUGE - but also the disruptions and extra time it takes to find and charge-up at L3's. Future use of Supercharger stations will absolutely help that.

Furthermore the Rivian is 400V battery tech so the task of charging battery up north of 85% takes a long time. Having a 400 mile battery would just increase that time (still, I'd take it had it been available when I got the R1S).

Hey, I'm not a hater! I'm on my second Rivian. Its just the whole vision image of taking my trailer by electric power only all over the country has shortcomings in today's real world.

Thanks for your perspective.

Now its time for the RV industry to stop making boxcar-shaped travel trailers, and put aero efficiency as a leading design element....can't wait!

 

[R.I.P.]

He was also a Narcissistic Nazi who took credit for the innovations of his employees.

Well... There is that...

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