Looks related to the Ramcharger to me.
People in this thread talk about plugging it in all the time to get it charged.
From what I see this truck only gets 20mpg, which knowing Ram's bull numbers is likely around 16mpg, is not very attractive unless I am missing something.
I do think it's a cool concept, a backwards hybrid, but also not really sure what is the point if you need to plug it in for ANY of these gains. Getting 20 or more MPG on a v6 is the norm in the current market, just not with Ram.
This truck now has gained a massive failure point. Without the v6 engine working you get nothing for miles as the batteries are small, without the EV motors working you don't move whatsoever as the v6 engine is not connected to the wheels You will need oil changes and the typical work on the v6 engine so you don't even save on maintenance, and the batteries will need to be replaced every few years, extremely expensive upkeep for a gain if you drive less then 150 miles a day and can plug in and assume electric is cheap where you live?
Have you heard of the Hemi w/eTorque?
You get a Hemi gas engine coupled to a generator that is connected to a battery pack in the truck. The battery pack helps accelerate the truck in some scenarios and gets some charge from regen braking in other situations.
For a 4WD/AWD, it has a gas engine, a generator, a torque converter, a transmission, a transfer case, two differentials, auto-locking wheel hubs, a conventional battery and a battery pack. With no eTorque, you just drop the battery pack, but you still have all the rest.
The Ramcharger has a simpler, cheaper gas engine, a stouter generator, 2 electric motors, and a battery pack.
If you don't drive more than 145 miles between charges, the Ramcharger NEVER uses gasoline, at all. You could get 100,000 miles per gallon of gas. Normal driving will get less than that, but normal driving (and plugging in to charge) will net WAY better than 20 MPG overall. 20 is what you get AFTER the battery is depleted and you are running on gas alone. Regardless, if all you do with your truck is drive it on gas and never plug in, not even at night, then the Ramcharger is probably not your best option and you should probably be looking at a Chevy Minimax.
It has been reported in several places that the Ramcharger can directly power the electric motors from the Pentastar generator in some scenarios.
The Hemi w/eTorque is well-known to be taken out easily and often by battery problems. So is the non-eTorque, for that matter.
Explain to us all how the Ramcharger is more complicated and inherently more prone to failure?
It's funny people act like it's a perpetual motion machine, look I can charge the battery while I drive! But you need to put gas in it just like all of our current trucks right now with marginally better mpg.
I can drive it all week and never use ANY gas. How do you figure that is only "marginally" better MPG?