Here's a YT that is focused on the 2025
"Ramcharger"
The Ram
charger being the 'battery electric' truck with a gasoline 'range extender' V6 engine which works in
series with the electric motors. The gasoline engine serves only as a generator to charge / supplement the batteries, it is not connected to the drivetrain (axles) at all so there is no mechanical transmission / driveshaft in the vehicle. In this configuration the ICE does vary its RPM but likely operates
very efficiently in all modes.
This is (obviously) different from anyone else's 'hybrid' / 'BEV' pickup truck approach to date. In current (pardon the pun
) lexicon this is an "e-REV" (electric range-extended vehicle) distinct from a "BEV" (battery electric vehicle), the Ford Lightning, Rivian, and Tesla Cybertruck being examples of the latter.
According to the linked video this truck promises ....
- Up to ~690 mile range (perhaps relatively realistic since it's generating power as it goes via the gasoline engine)
- Up to 2625# payload (expect that to be reduced with options and higher-trim levels)
- Up to 14k pounds towing capacity (again, expect that to be reduced based on options, etc)
In the video the presenter shares his speculative calculation suggesting that the gas tank would need to be ~18 gallons to achieve the promised ~690 mile range starting with a fully charged battery and using the gasoline engine.
IF that's in the ballpark, I divide 690 miles by 18 gallons to get an 'effective' net mileage on the order of 38MPG gasoline use. Yes, one should expect some reduction in that range and 'effective MPG' when towing, but likely not nearly the 'range hit' suffered by pure-electric BEV's I think.
Who knows how this will all play-out by the time it's in production in 2025, but IMO this could be an interesting Escape TV alternative.
We'll see .....
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