PHEVs to Rule Trucks?

Seems like after airfare, one or more nights hoteling in Michigan and the costs of driving/lodging back to Oregon you would use up most of that rebate.

 

I'd love to hear him elaborate on “intuitive”. It’s sort of like “organic”.

A conventional vehicle will downshift when accelerating, or in any situation when more power is demanded. Holding a constant speed while driving up an incline, for instance.

Perhaps they’re attempting to replicate that experience even though it may be completely unnecessary. Is he trying to say that the truck will behave in a similar manner as a conventional truck?

 

I interpreted it to mean that, although I hope I'm wrong. Sacrificing efficiency to make the Ramcharger's engine RPM "seem" more like a typical ICE makes no sense to me.

Instead, for those who desperately need it, maybe they could add an option where the stereo system plays pre-recorded engine growling noises that are synchronized to accelerator inputs. ;-)

 

Agreed.

This may be an opportune time to remind ourselves that trucks, in general, aren’t fuel efficient vehicles. They’re heavy, not aerodynamic and frequently carry just one person and a non-fat Chai soy latte to the local Ace for a few light bulbs. It isn’t worth the effort to stew over a perceived design flaw that may or may not measurably impact fuel efficiency. Individual driving habits will likely have a more significant impact.

As we suspect, they’ve probably engineered a vroom-vroom effect into the driving experience. Sadly, that V6 revving up isn’t going to impress anyone. Did someone put grandmas minivan engine in this truck?

 

Hi there. What makes you think that your vision is that path that I will follow?

Did I say that the reason for purchasing the truck in Michigan was to take advantage of the rebate? At present the rebate is just a proposal, it will need funding and that funding will be limited. The proposed rebate applies to all vehicles, so it’s entirely possible that there will be no funds remaining by the time the Ramcharger is available.

The truck will be registered and insured in Michigan and it will remain at a second home that we own there.

Thanks for your concern. Bye now.

 

I just stumbled upon this January 2023 article about the new Ram Charger that Ram and EFI are developing. So, if I end up getting a 2025 Ramcharger, maybe I'll also get a Ram Charger to charge my Ramcharger.
www.torquenews.com/3768/all-new-ram-charger-its-not-what

 

How far do you tow the boat?

I see this PHEV truck as the right choice for people towing things long distances, but what percentage of truck owners tow things long distances?

 

Seems to me, he also believes the PHEV truck is the right choice, compared to a BEV truck.

 

TFL posted a "hands on" video of the 2025 Ramcharger. They weren't allowed to show much (e.g., open the hood or doors) or provide new information (e.g., payload) because it was a prototype, but it was nice to see the exterior in closer detail. The prototype was badged as a Limited. He also showed the interior of an ICE 1500 Ram with Tungston trim -- which I thought looked great!

 

My boat is in North County San Diego, going down to the harbor and back is 75 miles, sometimes I'll launch it in Long Beach to go to Catalina or bring it to Arizona.

I was really excited for the Cybertruck. Reserved it to replace my F350.. Saw the towing reviews on the Lightning after it was released then came to the realization that the Cybertruck would be the same due to battery tech isn't there yet. I cancelled the Cybertruck and reserved the RamCharger.. if anyone ever towed something that's 40+ feet long combined, it's a PITA to not have a pull through gas station or electric charger. I would hate to have to unhook to recharge then hook but up every ~100 miles... I really like PHEV for long distance driving.

When I had my Clarity going to SF was nice in that I don't have to stop two times to charge like I currently do in the Model X. I really like my Tesla, all the hate Tesla gets. I one I have has a few small issues but ever car has issues. My family has 13 Teslas and all of them combined have been in the shop less than the 2022 Lincoln Navigator we bought my parents. We placed it with a Model X in December 28 2023 to replace the Navigator after we won the lemon lawsuit.

We were a Honda family, Honda stopped innovating so we moved on. We do have 4 Ridgelines in the family since that truck is class leading for what we need the "truck" for.

 

I'm looking forward to the Behind the Badge series starting on March 19th. I plan to submit a question asking why the 3.6l V6 was chosen for the PHEV.

 

The Navigator typically tops the unreliable vehicle list. Sounds like your family had a special one.

 

I'm looking forward to that series too. I submitted a question about estimated range/mpg when pulling an 8000 pound travel trailer. I doubt they'll have that information, but I figured it was worth asking anyway. It's nice to finally see some activity connected to being an Ram Rev Insider+ member.

 

Check out this InsideEVs' article from last November:
Here's Why The Electric 2025 Ram Ramcharger Got A V6 Engine

 

Thanks. There was some conjecture awhile back on this thread about the V6 being a larger than necessary engine for the Ramcharger.

Interestingly, the author of the linked article, who appears to be a human that is actually capable of writing without AI assistance, also questions whether a smaller engine may have offered better fuel economy and lower emissions.

It seems there are more armchair engineers at large than I had imagined.

 

This article suggests that Stellantis is prioritizing "get 'er done" rather than "make 'em nice" for their electrified vehicles:
Dodge Says It Doesn't Care About the Charger Daytona's Efficiency or Range
Dodge boss Tim Kuniskis says muscle-car owners don't care about efficiency.

 

That’s a peculiar take on the article. There was no mention of rushing into production “get ‘er done” or compromising quality in any way so as to not “make ‘em nice”.

The article simply suggests that performance was given priority over efficiency. Did you read a different article?

 

My "get 'er done" was meant to indicate that Stellantis isn't putting 4-cylinder engines in their Ramchargers or 100 kW motors in their Chargers. My "make 'em nice" was about hybrid trucks that have 4-cylinder engines to be nice to the environment and gentle on gasoline costs, or nice, sporty-looking cars that can go 250 miles on a charge, but take 10 seconds to get to 60 mph. Stellantis' engineers miss their "get 'er done" Hemi.

 

Correct, Stellantis isn’t putting 4-cylinder engines in the Ramcharger. You posted the article that gave some explanation as to why that decision was made. Are you certain that a 4-cylinder would be able to meet the required power demands while also being more efficient than the V-6? Would the 4-cylinder require forced induction?

What size motors does Tesla use? Their cars are quite zippy and also very efficient. Didn’t the article also mention that the Charger was rather efficient, even though the big boss and his customers don’t care about efficiency?

Would a nice (for the environment) sporty looking car that went from 0-60 in 10 seconds use less energy if it were to go from 0-60 in 5 seconds?

Is it possible that the Ramcharger will move a number of ICE driving goobers out of their 12mpg trucks and into something that will allow them to do 80-90% of their daily driving on batteries, thereby meeting your definition of a “nice” vehicle?