All-electric Ram 1500 REV to offer 500-mile range, 110-mile charge in 10 minutes

Making due on its promise to outdo the competition, the all-electric 2025 Ram 1500 REV pickup truck will offer 500 miles of range, a 110-mile charge in 10 minutes, up to 14,000 pounds of towing and up to 2,700 pounds of payload, according to Stellantis NV.

The REV made its in-person premiere on Wednesday morning at the New York International Auto Show after debuting during a Super Bowl spot in February when reservations opened to the public. With Ram pickups being Stellantis' most-sold vehicles, their electrification will be a key piece of the automaker's goal to have half of its U.S. sales all-electric by the end of the decade.

The REV will launch in the fourth quarter of 2024 at an as-yet undisclosed plant in the United States. That follows well after the competition. Electric vehicle startup Rivian Automotive Inc.'s $73,000 R1T began production in the fall of 2021. Then came the GMC Hummer EV and the now-$59,974 Ford F-150 Lightning. Deliveries of the Chevrolet Silverado EV that starts at $39,900 begin this spring with the GMC Sierra EV launching early next year.

Ram, though, has embraced that challenge — promising to surpass the performance of its competitors in the areas that customers told leaders and engineers on its "real talk" tour matter most. The "Built to Serve" brand went as far to call their rivals' offerings "premature." And at least on paper, the REV for now stands up to its commitments.

"You need to adopt disruptive, advanced technology without disrupting of the lives and livelihoods of those who count on us," Ram CEO Mike Koval Jr. said during the reveal. "We are delivering an electric pickup truck when we should, because for electrification, being first may not actually be the best."

Built off the new Auburn Hills-engineered STLA Frame platform, the truck will be available with battery packs whose targets are 350 and 500 miles of range range even before the availability of the as-yet undisclosed launch of the "Range Electric Paradigm Breaker" model known as the REV XR that will charge the pickup's battery with an engine. The Lightning provides up to 320 miles of range, while the maximum for the Silverado and R1T is 400 miles.

The REV's 110-mile charge in about 10 minutes with an 800-volt DC fast charger at up to 350 kilowatts beats the futuristic Revolution concept the brand revealed in January as a vision for its future. It could add 100 miles in that time, which is in-line with the Hummer, Sierra and Silverado. The Lightning's extended-range battery can charge 54 miles in about 10 minutes.

The REV's 14,000 towing maximum also beat the Ram 1500's current 12,750-pound limit.

"That's the dual car hauler," Mark Waekchi, project chief vehicle engineer for STLA Frame, said during a briefing ahead of the reveal. "That's the large farm equipment. That's normally a conversation you're having about a heavy-duty truck, and yet, this is the full-size."

The Lightning's and Silverado EV's maximum towing is 10,000 pounds, though General Motors Co. says a future work truck Silverado will offer up to 20,000. The R1T's is advertised as 11,000 pounds.

The 2,700-pound payload on the REV tops the current gas-powered truck's 2,300-pound maximum. The Lightning's is 2,235 pounds, and the Silverado's is up to 1,300 pounds.

Other performance targets include a 0-60 mph time of 4.4 seconds, 654 horsepower, 620 pound-feet of torque and up to 24 inches of water fording. Its competitors post superior figures on some of these specs.

As an EV, the truck also offers some new capabilities. It will be able to charge another Stellantis EV, provide power to the grid, send power to a home during an outage or run a tailgate party, campsite or work site. An on-board power panel in the bed also can provide up to 7.2 kilowatts, and the one in the 15 cubic-feet frunk — "front trunk" — offers up to 3.6 kilowatts. There's an 115-volt outlet in the truck's back RamBox storage units, too.

"You can power up the job site for those 240-volt circular saws, as well as have a premium tailgating experience," said Joe Tolkacz, STLA Frame propulsion system chief engineer. "You plug in your big-screen TV, your crock pot, your refrigerator."

The truck gets a tech upgrade, too. It will offer Level 2+ automated driving, akin to GM's Super Cruise or Ford's BlueCruise. Drivers will be able to remove their hands from the wheel on certain roads, but they still must keep their eyes on the road.

The vehicle, however, won't have Stellantis' three new software platforms that will launch in 2024, but first in the United States with Chrysler, whose first EV isn't coming until 2025. The Ram has the proprietary Atlantis electrical architecture.

Even before the official reveal in New York, the REV received criticism online over the more traditional truck look of the REV compared to the sporty and streamlined Revolution. Brand leaders declined to share how many reservations the truck has received, though Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares previously said there were enough to sell out the first year of production within three days.

Feeling "betrayed," though, some interested buyers posted to social media, saying they canceled their $100 reservation or opted not to sign up for the "Insider+" program altogether.

That was Mark Chatwin, 59, of Syracuse, New York. The self-employed musician had placed a reservation on the Silverado EV, but was eager about the potential for a longer range vehicle that could get him closer to North Carolina's Outer Banks without stopping for trips his family takes a few times a year. Unsatisfied with the lack of information about the extended-range model and by the less ambitious styling for a vehicle he expects will be his "last hoorah," he passed on making the reservation.

Then, an email appeared in his inbox on Tuesday, noting the reveal on Wednesday could result in a close-out in reservations. Feeling added pressure after a third problem showed up in his Honda Odyssey minivan on the way to the OBX for spring break, he signed up, citing the possibility that his reservation might be late enough to order the RX model and he could use the additional payload for six family members, four bikes, luggage and other goods.

"For me, it’s kind of, I got sucked into it," he said. "I paid the $100. I can get it back. It's the only way to get a leg up on them. It's supposed to have the largest range of all of them. That’s the No. 1 thing for me."

The REV will work as bridge for Ram owners to come from what they have known into the electrified world, said Mark Trostle, vice president of the Ram Truck design studio.

"The concept really is the manifesto for the brand and the future of the brand," he said. "You can start to see some of the influences that this truck has taken from a concept vehicle, and you're gonna see more and more of that over the coming years."

Because of the new EV-designed frame, the vehicle is slightly wider to fit the pack of batteries from LG Energy Solution. The vehicle has a "muscular" demeanor with a new backlit Ram logo and tuning-fork front design.

"Everyone wants to have a presence to it," Trostle said. "And I truly believe that our Ram vehicles have a presence to them on the road."

Inside the REV, screens abound with a 14.5-inch center touchscreen and physical buttons and nobs below and around it. Additionally, it has a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 10.25-inch passenger screen, digital rearview mirror and head-up display projected on the windshield. An infotainment page allows owners to authorize payments automatically when plugged into a compatible charger.

The e-shifter to shift into parking, reverse, drive and neutral also has eco mode, axle lock, hill-descent control and a button to open and lock the frunk. New regen buttons also can move the car into one-pedal driving for maximum regeneration. Owners also will be able to unlock their REV with their smartphone.

A multi-link independent rear suspension with four-corner air suspension with adaptive damping enables five different modes: entry/exit, aero, normal, off-road 1 and off-road 2. The 22-by-9-inch aluminum wheels are wrapped in 275/50R22 Pirelli Scorpion all-season 20- or 22-inch tires.

The REV will have five trims, including the new top-of-the-line Tungsten trim with a 23-speaker Klipsch audio system, 24-way power, massage seats and an Indigo and Seat Salt interior.

"We see a nice piece of the BEV early transition," said Brant Combs, head of Ram 1500 product marketing, "to be something like this."

Some of the more unique components of the Revolution concept such as a track in the floor that allows the seats and center console to be moved around or third-row jump seats haven't made their way into the REV at least for now.

The potential for third-row seats especially appealed to Jordan Denhoed, 39, of Oak Park, Illinois, whose nieces and nephews are four doors down. The engineer drives a Tesla Model 3 and has reservations for several other EVs, including the Silverado. He bought an upper trim Lightning in September on impulse when one became available, but turned it in for being too expensive. When his time to order one came up, he passed on it, too, because Ford has increased the price, despite enjoying the vehicle.

He doesn't mind the more traditional look of the Ram and wants an EV for off-roading, though traditionally his bias is toward GM vehicles.

"I felt like if I don’t reserve one, I might lose out," Denhoed said of the REV. "If the range is good, price is good, and charging speed is fast, I want the opportunity to say yes or no."

bnoble@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @BreanaCNoble