Ram teases electric 1500 pickup, launches site for 'revolution'

Ram's electric pickup truck still is two years away, but the "Built to Serve" brand is giving the public a tease of a concept vehicle and an opportunity to share what they want from the EV.

The Stellantis NV make on Tuesday launched RamRevolution.com. It's a hub that will give customers an inside look at Ram's "EV philosophy" and a forum to share what they want from the new truck. The brand also will hold a "Ram Real Talk Tour," a series of conversations over the next year at various events for truck owners to speak with designers and engineers about what an electric pickup must do to meet their needs. Cities and dates are to come.

"Our mission with an EV truck is to be the best, to design and build trucks that solve our owners’ real-world needs," Ram CEO Mike Koval Jr. told The Detroit News. "We are building an EV that is all truck and no compromise. It will tow, haul and go the distance and stay on the job no matter what we ask of it."

The Ram 1500 Battery Electric Vehicle will launch in 2024 after Ram's all-electric ProMaster commercial van in 2023, which already has a buyer in Amazon.com Inc. The electric pickup also will follow EV truck launches from Rivian Automotive Inc., which has begun delivering its R1T trucks; Ford Motor Co., which launches the F-150 Lightning this spring; and General Motors Co., which already is building the GMC Hummer EV pickup and will launch the electric Chevrolet Silverado early next year.

"We are in full motion of our plan. Our focus is on bringing the right product at the right time with the range, towing and hauling our customers need," Koval said. "We will once again redefine the full-size segment with electrification in terms of range, power and convenience that pushes past our competitors' offerings."

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has said the additional time gives the automaker the chance to see what its competitors are doing and outdo their offerings at launch.

"More and more truck intenders," Koval said, "are open to the idea of heavy electrification, but they're not willing to compromise on their core attributes of capability and power."

That's something Koval says he feels Ram is doing differently — going directly to customers to get their input.

Truck buyers, however, have lined up with enthusiasm for EV offerings from Ram's crosstown rivals. The Blue Oval last month said it had nearly 200,000 reservations for the Dearborn-built Lightning ahead of orders officially launching and was doubling its annual production capacity in Dearborn. GM as of Jan. 31 had reservations approaching 59,000 for the Hummer pickup and SUV built in Detroit and more than 110,000 for the Silverado from retail and fleet.

Ram's vehicle is expected to be based off the Auburn Hills-engineered STLA Frame platform, which the company has said will offer 500 miles of range with 159 to more than 200 kilowatt-hours of energy. Koval declined to specify where it will be built. Sterling Heights Assembly Plant builds the latest generation of the gas-powered truck.

The Rivian R1T has an estimated range of 314 miles by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Ford Lightning offers up to 300 miles of range with an extended battery pack. The Hummer has 329 miles of range, according to GM. The Silverado is expected to travel more than 400 miles on a single charge.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Ram Revolution also could be the name of the forthcoming electric truck. Stellantis' U.S. subsidiary last month did register the trademark for "motor vehicles, namely, passenger trucks."

"It’s a philosophy as much as it is anything else," Koval said. "It could ultimately signal or inspire what our battery electric vehicle will be or the name of it could be."

Stellantis is investing $35.5 billion into electrification and software by 2025. Ram says it will offer electric vehicles in a majority of its segments by 2025 and a full portfolio by 2030.

bnoble@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @BreanaCNoble