2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger (gas-assisted EV) with 690+ mile range

[Scooby24]

It's a hybrid much like my wife's old car a Chevy Volt.

It is not. They are fundamentally different in that the Chevy Volt uses the gasoline engine and electric motor to provide power to the wheels...hence hybrid. Gasoline and electric drivetrain.

This Ram is not a hybrid drivetrain, it's electric. Only ever powered by electricity, therefore it's an EV.
It's more akin to a BMW i3. It's Electric with a range extending generator. The Ram just happens to be REALLY range extending. Call it a series hybrid if you want, but it's not like the Volt as a result of the gasoline never being physically connected to the wheels.

Personally, I think it's an absolutely fantastic, brilliant strategy. You get the driving benefits of an electric vehicle. Power, torque, no shifting, 1pd, etc....but the benefit of massive range and subsequently better fuel efficiency compared to a gasoline or hybrid counterpart.

And it still establishes a benefit/need for the inclusion of charging at home and infrastructure benefits.

THIS is the direction we should be going to getting EV adoption. I say well done Stellantis.

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[Mach1E]

It is not. They are fundamentally different in that the Chevy Volt uses the gasoline engine and electric motor to provide power to the wheels...hence hybrid. Gasoline and electric drivetrain.

This Ram is not a hybrid drivetrain, it's electric. Only ever powered by electricity, therefore it's an EV.
It's more akin to a BMW i3. It's Electric with a range extending generator. The Ram just happens to be REALLY range extending.

Kinda.

Only in one of the four modes does the Volts gas engine actually power the wheels.

https://www.autonews.com/assets/pdf/ca713241015.pdf

 

[OON7]

I'm just laughing at calling it a gas assisted EV instead of a hybrid. This is the kind if spin I would expect from a company that thought the Dodge brand was such a liability they dropped it from their trucks.

 

[Scooby24]

Kinda.

Only in one of the four modes does the Volts gas engine actually power the wheels.

https://www.autonews.com/assets/pdf/ca713241015.pdf

But because it can still power the wheels in any mode, it's going to be classified differently from this. This is a purely electric drivetrain which provides benefits that I would consider superior to something like the Volt. Benefits being, bigger electric motors with EV performance (power cannot be supplemented with gasoline), bigger battery for more EV only range, EV like charging capabilities for home/DCFC.

The Volt was one of those vehicles I looked a while back but fell short in soooo many ways compared to what Stellantis is doing with this truck. I'd buy this. Wouldn't buy the volt.

 

[OON7]

Kinda.

Only in one of the four modes does the Volts gas engine actually power the wheels.

https://www.autonews.com/assets/pdf/ca713241015.pdf

I had a 2019 Honda Insight. It was also designed to run in series primarily. The gas engine could send power to the wheels I believe in full throttle, but otherwise the engine was just generating power for the electric drive train. I'm pretty sure that's how all of the current Honda hybrids are designed but I could be wrong. Obviously the Insight could not plug in and the battery I think was less than 3 kWh, so not exactly apples to apples.

 

[Mach1E]

I'm just laughing at calling it a gas assisted EV instead of a hybrid. This is the kind if spin I would expect from a company that thought the Dodge brand was such a liability they dropped it from their trucks.

It’s not spin, that’s what it is.

A BEV (around 75 kwh battery) and electric motors that drive the wheels with a range extender generator.

Very different than a hybrid (engine, transmission driving the wheels with electric assist).

 

[Scooby24]

It’s not spin, that’s what it is.

A BEV (around 75 kwh battery) and electric motors that drive the wheels with a range extender generator.

Very different than a hybrid (engine, transmission driving the wheels with electric assist).

Right? I get the annoyance at arguing semantics, I really do...but in this case the same word is being used to classify totally different drivetrains. It's just functionally very different and can't be lumped in with others. It's not a new concept, but this is the first time I've seen it done right...the way we've envisioned it working out conceptually from the get go.

 

[MellowJohnny]

My question here is are we dealing with an edge case? Any idea what percentage of truck owners actually tow heavy stuff for long periods?

I'm not saying it's not a thing, but if the percentage that need it is small (10%? 20%? 50%), buy an ICE. Otherwise, ceteris paribus, buy a BEV for tailgating and driving around town. If I'm towing a horse trailer or a mobile shop full of work tools I'm looking at ICE. But if I just want the truck "look", I'm getting a BEV. Electric doesn't do everything well all the time.

This just seems like a marketing idea to counter the "BEV trucks can't tow" argument they use against the Lightning.

 

[fdny37]

If the truck goes 690 miles and takes 27 gallons of gas that adds up to 25.5 mpg. My 2017 Ram Ecodiesel gets 23 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the road. I don't get it so it drives like an EV but costs like an ICE.

 

[Scooby24]

If the truck goes 690 miles and takes 27 gallons of gas that adds up to 25.5 mpg. My 2017 Ram Ecodiesel gets 23 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the road. I don't get it so it drives like an EV but costs like an ICE.

Only if you need that range. Even those that haul aren't hauling all the time, or even a majority of the time. If you could have EV for the 90% use case, and ICE range (at ice cost) for the 10%, I'm not sure what's not to get. It's a best of both worlds scenario.

 

[OON7]

Right? I get the annoyance at arguing semantics, I really do...but in this case the same word is being used to classify totally different drivetrains. It's just functionally very different and can't be lumped in with others. It's not a new concept, but this is the first time I've seen it done right...the way we've envisioned it working out conceptually from the get go.

It looks like a series hybrid with a massive battery. I guess I just don't understand the details enough to know why because the battery is big it can't be called a hybrid.

I think it's interesting, not trying to be dismissive of the concept, but I think most people are going to look at that thing and think hybrid. Not that the masses are always right. ?

 

[Scooby24]

It looks like a series hybrid with a massive battery. I guess I just don't understand the details enough to know why because the battery is big it can't be called a hybrid.

I think it's interesting, not trying to be dismissive of the concept, but I think most people are going to look at that thing and think hybrid. Not that the masses are always right. ?

Because one type of Hybrid is not the same as another. It needs a differentiator in name and if that's series that's fine...so long as it's understood it's not the same.

 

[OON7]

Because one type of Hybrid is not the same as another. It needs a differentiator in name and if that's series that's fine...so long as it's understood it's not the same.

Edit: whoops on the double quote.

Agreed not the same and this truck appears to be more unique than I realized. I mean hybrid running in series as the gas engine is generating power to go to the batteries to power the electric drivetrain. This is basically the Honda strategy.

I had a 2019 Insight before the MME and this is how it worked, but apparently if you requested more power than the electric drivetrain could provide Honda had a way to clutch in the gas engine to provide parallel support temporarily. It was really odd to hear how hard the engine was working not correspond at all with how you were driving. Could floor it and the engine sounded like it was idling, or just be cruising and the thing would fire up to high rpm to maintain the electric juice.

Hybrid running in parallel would be both the gas engine and the electric drivetrain providing power to the wheels together. I guess this is the strategy on most hybrids.

I did some reading today and learned a lot more than I ever thought I would about hybrids. Didn't realize Honda's approach was any different than something like a Prius. This truck is definitely different than how a Prius works, I realize that now.

Big truck, big engine, big battery, and plug-in, is not the same as my previous dinky 2019 Honda Insight, but conceptually similar idea on a way different scale.

So after all that... tldr, I think I may have been wrong to just shout Hybrid, but may have been a little right too haha. Always enjoy the banter here.

 

[Scooby24]

Edit: whoops on the double quote.

Agreed not the same and this truck appears to be more unique than I realized. I mean hybrid running in series as the gas engine is generating power to go to the batteries to power the electric drivetrain. This is basically the Honda strategy.

I had a 2019 Insight before the MME and this is how it worked, but apparently if you requested more power than the electric drivetrain could provide Honda had a way to clutch in the gas engine to provide parallel support temporarily. It was really odd to hear how hard the engine was working not correspond at all with how you were driving. Could floor it and the engine sounded like it was idling, or just be cruising and the thing would fire up to high rpm to maintain the electric juice.

Hybrid running in parallel would be both the gas engine and the electric drivetrain providing power to the wheels together. I guess this is the strategy on most hybrids.

I did some reading today and learned a lot more than I ever thought I would about hybrids. Didn't realize Honda's approach was any different than something like a Prius. This truck is definitely different than how a Prius works, I realize that now.

Big truck, big engine, big battery, and plug-in, is not the same as my previous dinky 2019 Honda Insight, but conceptually similar idea on a way different scale.

So after all that... tldr, I think I may have been wrong to just shout Hybrid, but may have been a little right too haha. Always enjoy the banter here.

To me, this is what makes one hybrid suck versus an all EV powertrain not.

If you're supplementing torque delivery with a gasoline engine, it means you don't have to build out an EV Drivetrain that has the power and torque of an EV....it will have drivability issues like you mentioned.

If you don't allow that gasoline engine to be a factor in the torque delivery in the drivetrain, you get ALL the benefits of the EV's drivability which is a very different experience from your insight, for example.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

It is not. They are fundamentally different in that the Chevy Volt uses the gasoline engine and electric motor to provide power to the wheels...hence hybrid. Gasoline and electric drivetrain.

This Ram is not a hybrid drivetrain, it's electric. Only ever powered by electricity, therefore it's an EV.
It's more akin to a BMW i3. It's Electric with a range extending generator. The Ram just happens to be REALLY range extending. Call it a series hybrid if you want, but it's not like the Volt as a result of the gasoline never being physically connected to the wheels.

Personally, I think it's an absolutely fantastic, brilliant strategy. You get the driving benefits of an electric vehicle. Power, torque, no shifting, 1pd, etc....but the benefit of massive range and subsequently better fuel efficiency compared to a gasoline or hybrid counterpart.

And it still establishes a benefit/need for the inclusion of charging at home and infrastructure benefits.

THIS is the direction we should be going to getting EV adoption. I say well done Stellantis.

So one degree less dumb than the dude who tows a generator behind his Mach-E in case he ran out of battery power? Got it.

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