The best of both worlds
The electric pickup is literally and figuratively a big thing in the US, and Ram also has one. Anyone who finds the Ram 1500 REV too limited in terms of options can now turn to Ram for a Ram 1500 Ramcharger. It’s also electric, but not completely.
The Ram 1500 Ramcharger is powered by two electric motors. The front engine produces 250 kW/340 hp, the rear engine 238 kW/324 hp. They get their power from a battery pack with a capacity of 92 kWh. Not bad, but considerably less than the 168 kWh or even 229 kWh batteries that Ram puts in the fully electric Ram 1500 REV.
You may already have guessed the explanation: in addition to the battery pack and the electric motors, there is also ‘just’ a combustion engine on board. It is a 3.6-liter V6 that never directly drives the wheels, but is responsible for the power supply when the battery pack can no longer handle it on its own. So it is in fact a ‘range extender’, but in an ‘EV’ that, with a total of 664 hp and a 0-60 mph time of 4.4 seconds, can be called quite fast.
Ramcharger drivetrain
Although the Ram 1500 Ramcharger is of course no longer a real EV, the advantages are obvious for such a workhorse. After all, it is now abundantly clear that a fully electric pick-up needs enormous battery packs to have a usable range, while the range quickly becomes very unusable if a huge trailer is attached to the tow bar. On paper, this Ramcharger combines the best of both worlds: shorter journeys can be made completely electrically and the Ramcharger can be used as a kind of gigantic ‘power bank’ in the workshop, just like a fully electric pick-up. Meanwhile, the Ram 1500 Ramcharger has a driving range of no less than 1,110 km thanks to its petrol engine. Moreover, a cart weighing 6,350 kg can ‘normally’ be pulled, at least in ‘the land of the free’. Unfortunately, Ram is not giving up a driving range purely on electricity, but it is clear that the power supply can be supplemented with a charging capacity of 145 kW at the fast charger if desired. In principle, this is of course not necessary: ​​you charge such a Ramcharger at home and then get through the day on electricity and petrol.
Appearance and name
The appearance of the Ram 1500 Ramcharger, like the drivetrain, is somewhere between that of the regular Ram 1500 and that of the fully electric Ram 1500 REV. The Ramcharger, for example, has the wider, L-shaped taillights of the EV, but only on more expensive versions. The entry-level ‘Tradesman’ (photo 13, 14) does not have them, but that said: this may also apply to the basic version of the REV that is yet to be launched.
The name ‘Ramcharger’ is historically sound. It already appeared in the 1970s on the Dodge Ramcharger, a three-door SUV based on the chassis of a (then) Dodge Ram 1500 pick-up. It may be even more applicable to the new car, because it is a Ram (now a brand) that you can charge (with a ‘charger’).
Dodge Ramcharger (1974)
The Ram 1500 Ramcharger is not the only news in the Ram 1500 field, because the entire model line is getting a facelift. More about that here.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl