Ram Will Hold News Conference At The Chicago Auto Show, Next Week!

[habu987]

The thing is...hybrids have made sense for a long, long time, but they've taken a long time to catch on. At this point, we should be going the other way and doing extended range hybrids (driving the wheels with electric motors and using small onboard IC engines as generators/chargers). It feels like that combo would provide unmatched torque and range until battery tech evolves beyond it.

I traded my '19 in for a Sorento PHEV in December since I needed a 3rd row, and for the most part I thoroughly enjoy it. There are some nits I have to pick with Kia's particular implementation of the PHEV, but the concept is excellent.

I don't see why Ram couldn't easily jump on the PHEV boat by going with a dual electric motor producing outputs similar to Ford's Eluminator, a ~30kW battery, and an appropriately sized ICE generator to keep the batteries charged under any load condition, which would result in significantly higher MPG than what we get now. Done right, that would allow the truck to run 100% of the time from the battery, with the ICE only ever working to charge the battery.

To keep a usable payload, that would likely require Ram to hike the GVWR above the artificial cap like Ford and GM have already done, but it's not a show stopper.

Honestly, I'm flabbergasted none of the manufacturers have done this already.

 

[SpeedyV]

I traded my '19 in for a Sorento PHEV in December since I needed a 3rd row, and for the most part I thoroughly enjoy it. There are some nits I have to pick with Kia's particular implementation of the PHEV, but the concept is excellent.

I don't see why Ram couldn't easily jump on the PHEV boat by going with a dual electric motor producing outputs similar to Ford's Eluminator, a ~30kW battery, and an appropriately sized ICE generator to keep the batteries charged under any load condition, which would result in significantly higher MPG than what we get now. Done right, that would allow the truck to run 100% of the time from the battery, with the ICE only ever working to charge the battery.

To keep a usable payload, that would likely require Ram to hike the GVWR above the artificial cap like Ford and GM have already done, but it's not a show stopper.

Honestly, I'm flabbergasted none of the manufacturers have done this already.

I strongly suspect that profits drive all such decisions.

 

[billyraff]

Looks like Rams Facebook released a new emblem this morning. Teaser to the release??

 

[djevox]

Looks like Rams Facebook released a new emblem this morning. Teaser to the release??

can you post a screenshot of it? I don’t like Facebook, so I don’t go on there.

 

[IvoryHemi]

can you post a screenshot of it? I don’t like Facebook, so I don’t go on there.

 

[Ldante197]

“Ram Revolution”… they mention electric trucks in the video too and the new emblem seems very electric-y.

Ram Revolution | The Future of Ram Electric Trucks & Vans

The Ram brand is moving into electrification & more for their trucks and vans. Become part of the Ram Revolution & have your voice heard today.

www.ramtrucks.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[djevox]

View attachment 119941

Thanks! And not sure how I feel about that.

 

[devildodge]

 

[devildodge]

Video: The 2024 Ram 1500 Revolution EV Truck Is Confirmed – Take a Look at the Chassis

Ram officially confirms the upcoming 2024 Ram 1500 Revolution all-electric pickup truck. We knew the company was working on an all-EV pickup, but now its name,

tfltruck.com

 

[billyraff]

It'll be awesome eventually but I wouldn't want to touch the first year EV models.. wish they'd just release some info on the 2023's..

 

[2020GCM]

YES. Why on earth have they not done this yet- it makes no sense to me.

GM did with the Volt:

The Volt operates as a pure battery electric vehicle until its battery capacity drops to a predetermined threshold from full charge. From there, its internal combustion engine powers an electric generator to extend the vehicle's range as needed.

 

[CaptainCJ35]

I traded my '19 in for a Sorento PHEV in December since I needed a 3rd row, and for the most part I thoroughly enjoy it. There are some nits I have to pick with Kia's particular implementation of the PHEV, but the concept is excellent.

I don't see why Ram couldn't easily jump on the PHEV boat by going with a dual electric motor producing outputs similar to Ford's Eluminator, a ~30kW battery, and an appropriately sized ICE generator to keep the batteries charged under any load condition, which would result in significantly higher MPG than what we get now. Done right, that would allow the truck to run 100% of the time from the battery, with the ICE only ever working to charge the battery.

To keep a usable payload, that would likely require Ram to hike the GVWR above the artificial cap like Ford and GM have already done, but it's not a show stopper.

Honestly, I'm flabbergasted none of the manufacturers have done this already.

Stellantis is most certainly developing and even selling them now... the Wrangler 4Xe is one. They are incrementally developing and releasing them. The new Grand Cherokee is supposed to be getting a PHEV option soon.

I think for trucks, it's a higher bar to get them to do truck things under all conditions... like towing 10,000 lbs over long distances and then thru city traffic. An undersized ICE with a depleted battery not available to help out under heavy load would not be a good experience.

 

[habu987]

I think for trucks, it's a higher bar to get them to do truck things under all conditions... like towing 10,000 lbs over long distances and then thru city traffic. An undersized ICE with a depleted battery not available to help out under heavy load would not be a good experience.

Hence the need to outfit an ICE generator that can fill the battery under any load condition. It's not a technological constraint, it's a design issue that so far none of them have addressed.

It is absolutely possible from a technical perspective to have an ICE generator that produces enough power to recharge or at least maintain battery levels under any load scenario, so you never have to worry about an underpowered ICE struggling to pull a load.

Figure out how much power would be required to pull a maxed out load on something like the Davis Dam, or whatever the manufacturers do for their powertrain testing, and work the math backwards from there to determine what size ICE generator is needed and what kind of control programming is needed, as well as what size battery is needed. None of this is rocket science or technologically prohibitive.

 

[CaptainCJ35]

Hence the need to outfit an ICE generator that can fill the battery under any load condition. It's not a technological constraint, it's a design issue that so far none of them have addressed.

It is absolutely possible from a technical perspective to have an ICE generator that produces enough power to recharge or at least maintain battery levels under any load scenario, so you never have to worry about an underpowered ICE struggling to pull a load.

Figure out how much power would be required to pull a maxed out load on something like the Davis Dam, or whatever the manufacturers do for their powertrain testing, and work the math backwards from there to determine what size ICE generator is needed and what kind of control programming is needed, as well as what size battery is needed. None of this is rocket science or technologically prohibitive.

I don't think you get the efficiency you'd want doing it that way. They don't have regen from breaking/coasting worked out well enough, enough energy storage in small batteries, etc... so you're talking about a big engine anyway. In your scenario, the truck is pulling a heavy load AND charging/maintaining a battery where both things require significant energy, i.e. burning a lot of fuel.

For example, both TFL, and TrailRecon have taken Jeep 4Xe's offroad and got no where near the predicted mileage as if they were on pavement. Same scenario applies to a truck with a tow. That ICE will be working overtime, which is suboptimal.

Theoretically possible, but I don't think anyone has it worked out yet technologically.

 

[IvoryHemi]

Hence the need to outfit an ICE generator that can fill the battery under any load condition. It's not a technological constraint, it's a design issue that so far none of them have addressed.

It is absolutely possible from a technical perspective to have an ICE generator that produces enough power to recharge or at least maintain battery levels under any load scenario, so you never have to worry about an underpowered ICE struggling to pull a load.

Figure out how much power would be required to pull a maxed out load on something like the Davis Dam, or whatever the manufacturers do for their powertrain testing, and work the math backwards from there to determine what size ICE generator is needed and what kind of control programming is needed, as well as what size battery is needed. None of this is rocket science or technologically prohibitive.

Ford filed a patent for this exactly.

Ford F-150 Electric Patent Shows Range-Extending Gas Generator

First submitted in April of 2018, the pictures show a small range-extender shaped like a toolbox and positioned in the truck’s cargo bed.

www.motor1.com