New Plug-In Hybrid Truck Guarantees Limitless Vary With Some Cool Engineering Tech
5 min read
The 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger makes an attempt to resolve two of the largest hurdles consumers have about transitioning from gasoline to electrical: vary anxiousness and the dearth of charging infrastructure.
It addresses each by providing a typical Pentastar V6 that connects to a generator and feeds electrons to a 92 kWh battery, which provides energy to 2 electrical motors that generate as much as 663 horsepower and 615 lb-ft. of torque. The V6 engine’s sole objective is to energy the generator, not the rear wheels of the truck.
2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger: Limitless Vary?
The Ram 1500 Ramcharger rides on the same “STLA Body” body-on-frame structure because the incoming 1500 REV all-electric truck. Ram’s choice to shoehorn a gas-fed V6 generator is a response to the rising reputation of hybrids, and it did it with out sacrificing what precise consumers crave in a workhorse automobile.
“With limitless battery-electric vary, the Ram 1500 Ramcharger is the top of the light-duty pickup truck phase and the final word electrical truck,” stated Tim Kuniskis, Ram model CEO – Stellantis, through the reveal of the Ram 1500 Ramcharger.
What Kuniskis is successfully saying is that because the Ramcharger shouldn’t be depending on charging stations, drivers might theoretically obtain “limitless vary” by filling up the tank. It’s not precisely limitless vary since you need to gasoline up the engine ultimately, however we perceive the place Ram is coming from.
Ram stated to anticipate 145 miles of all-electric vary and as much as 690 miles with a full tank of gasoline, numbers which will sway some consumers in the direction of an electrified truck, limitless vary claims apart. The Ramcharger accepts as much as 400V of DC fast-charging to replenish 50 miles of vary in about 10 minutes.
No Mechanical Path: How It Works
The liquid-cooled 92 kWh battery pack, paired with the three.6-liter Pentastar V6 and 130 kW generator, sends energy to a 250 kW entrance and 238 kW rear electrical drive module (EDM). The EDMs mix the motor, gearbox, and inverter together with all-wheel-drive functionality.
As described by Ram, the 1500 Ramcharger options one EDM on the entrance axle with an automated wheel-end disconnect that permits the entrance wheels to spin freely in sure circumstances, maximizing effectivity. The second EDM is positioned on the rear axle with an out there electronic-locking rear differential.
The mechanical energy of the Pentastar V6 is transformed to electrical energy by the 130 kW generator. {That electrical} energy can be utilized to cost the battery or utilized to the high-voltage bus, the place the EDMs can use {the electrical} energy from the generator and battery to offer extra chunk for the wheels. By means of this design, Ram is ready to haven’t any direct mechanical path from the engine to the wheels.
Basically, the Pentastar V6 is just chargeable for powering the 130 kW generator, with packaging consideration for the entrance EDM. The generator mounts on to the engine whereas an influence inverter module mounts on the automobile and connects to a junction field.
If you’re fascinated by how electrical drive powertrains are designed and the way they operate, take a hearken to this episode of AutoVision News Radio that includes {the electrical} {hardware} engineering group from GKN Automotive.
Towing & Payload Capability
The difficulty with electrical vans is how the driving range diminishes when towing or carrying heavy hundreds. Nonetheless, Ram claims as much as 14,000 lbs. of towing (with a category 5 hitch) and a 2,625 lbs. max payload capability when correctly geared up, near-identical numbers to the Ram 1500 REV.
How Quick Is The 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger?
Discussing the zero to 60 occasions of a half-ton truck is appropriate within the electrical age, given the fame of prompt torque. On this entrance, the Ram 1500 Ramcharger delivers. The automaker claims zero to 60 mph in 4 seconds, a hair sooner than the 1500 REV, and sufficient to make you smile when given the beans.
The 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger has inherited the styling cues of its 1500 REV brethren. It has a forward-leaning entrance grille design with an illuminated RAM badge that pulsates when recharging. Furthermore, it options related LED taillamps that stretch to the power-operated tailgate. Ram stated the mattress gives room to hold plywood and drywall like a standard gas-powered Ram truck.
Contained in the Ramcharger is a leather-based, steel, and carbon fiber showcase. Entrance and heart is a 14.5-inch Uconnect 5 infotainment touchscreen and a ten.25-inch passenger display screen, whereas the motive force can entry a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.
Furthermore, a typical full-color heads-up show (as much as 10 inches) reveals the present pace, turn-by-turn navigation, lane-keeping help, adaptive cruise management, lane departure warnings, and extra.
2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Tungsten
Ram has but to completely disclose the out there trim variants, however we all know a Tradesman, Large Horn, and Laramine are coming. Ram additionally revealed extra about what to anticipate from the top-of-the-line Tungsten grade.
It options dual-textured steel trim, an Indigo/Sea Salt inside theme, a suede headliner, quilted leather-based upholstery with heating and ventilating capabilities, powered headrests, and a Klipsch Reference premium audio system with 23 audio system.
All Ramchargers have an e-shifter, regen buttons, an illuminated starter button, 5 driving modes (Auto, Sport, Tow, Snow, Off-Street), and a push-button trailer steering knob. Different options embody a four-corner air suspension, hands-free freeway driving help, and a digital rearview mirror.
2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger MSRP
Ram has opened the pre-order books for the 1500 Ramcharger and 1500 REV, however the first deliveries received’t arrive till late 2024. The MSRP info stays forthcoming, though we anticipate the Ramcharger to be extra reasonably priced than the all-electric 1500 REV’s sub-$60,000 to $85,000 beginning MSRP worth.
Alvin Reyes is an Automoblog characteristic columnist and an knowledgeable in sports activities and efficiency automobiles. He studied civil aviation, aeronautics, and accountancy in his youthful years and remains to be very a lot smitten to his former Lancer GSR and Galant SS. He additionally likes fried hen, music, and natural medication.
2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Photograph Gallery
Photographs & Supply: Ram Truck Model.
