REV vs Ramcharger - who would buy a REV?

[mikeru82]

"I'm not intending" = "I have no intention of continuing this discussion". Now if you'd stop trying to drag me back, into this we can all exit the discussion, thanks. I'm not Dewey, I'm not you, I'll do and write as I see fit.

You can't drag the willing.

 

[silver billet]

You can't drag the willing.

Boom, dude gets smarter with every post.

 

[Scram1500]

None of this is fake news unfortunately.

Deregulation and reopening the pipeline will lower the cost dramatically.

 

[millerbjm]

Most people buying EV trucks aren't buying them to tow, usually, so that's probably not a big concern with the engineers. They are really desiofor the urban guy using it as a commuter that still wants a truck.

It's not just urban guys- lots of surveys have shown less than 25% of pickup owners hauls with their trucks and less than 10% tow more than once a year. Long story short more than half of all truck owners use their truck as a commuter vehicle and to project an image. An EV truck would likely serve many of them well in that use case.

 

[go-ram]

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For those interested in a number of close-up photos of the Ramcharger chassis, toward the end of this article at MoTales ("Mopar Tales"), there are quite a few good closeups of the exposed Ramcharger chassis:
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Chrysler at the 2025 Detroit Auto Show
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[go-ram]

I'm not intending to make an issue out of this, it was just a comment showing how volatile the gas/electric debate is when it comes to cars and it can change yearly.

But there is nothing in the rules about avoiding politics. Just "excessive or inflammatory political comments in an otherwise apolitical thread" (which lets be honest, its hard to avoid politics in an ice/electric thread).

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Hello Silver Billet and Dewey: I understand, petrol vs EV unfortunately became a political issue because of the way it has been handled in America. It was an unnecessary detour away from letting engineers do their jobs and letting Americans choose the technology type and specific vehicles that suit their needs & wants - i.e. relatively free market. But thankfully the pendulum has begun to swing back toward reality and common sense, and I'm hoping that we can shake off the dust of the last few years and go forward just looking at each technology for what it does well in a given use-case.
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Of course we all have free speech, and the original posts were not inflammatory, but I had the feeling it could go there so I tried to make a gentle reminder, hoping to keep 5thgenrams a haven from anyone's political leanings. We are, after all, brothers in trucks.
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[LRRP71]

Well 2 people on my block can't get their EV cars started today. even after the sun came out and it went to 12*F with a wind chill of 0 to -8*F. It's supposed to be worse tnite and tomorrow. in the -12*F temps.

 

[millerbjm]

Well 2 people on my block can't get their EV cars started today. even after the sun came out and it went to 12*F with a wind chill of 0 to -8*F. It's supposed to be worse tnite and tomorrow. in the -12*F temps.

Likely several thousand people can't getvtheir internal combustion cars started today either - just saying. Meanwhile my Plug-in hybrid will pre heat itself in the garage this morning and have a warm cabin and battery when my wife leaves the house.

 

[Scram1500]

Likely several thousand people can't getvtheir internal combustion cars started today either - just saying. Meanwhile my Plug-in hybrid will pre heat itself in the garage this morning and have a warm cabin and battery when my wife leaves the house.

Ironically the internal combustion car won't start for the same reason the EV won't move in cold weather. At least you can jumpstart a combustion engine

 

[millerbjm]

Ironically the internal combustion car won't start for the same reason the EV won't move in cold weather. At least you can jumpstart a combustion engine

Especially with all the battery issues newer cars seem to have- sometimes even a jump won't help if the battery is too low. Everything moves slow in these temps.

 

[LRRP71]

Especially with all the battery issues newer cars seem to have- sometimes even a jump won't help if the battery is too low. Everything moves slow in these temps.
View attachment 195328

Dam I won't complain about the cold compared to you. It's like summer around here 12*F right now . But yea ICE have the same problem batteries. I am looking at my neighbor across the street who has a EV BMW and a Musk Y vehicle, now not running. The Tesla ran yesterday. Then a Riviana had trouble yesterday, but it is running today. After he had it pushed into his heated garage yesterday. How the hell he pushed that thing in is beyond me. He most likely used his work truck.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Well 2 people on my block can't get their EV cars started today. even after the sun came out and it went to 12*F with a wind chill of 0 to -8*F. It's supposed to be worse tnite and tomorrow. in the -12*F temps.

Sounds like you have some idiot EV owners in your area. Tesla and Rivian both have a "pre-heat" capability that also warms up the battery. If they sent leaving their EVs plugged in overnight, and using the features available to them, then they are just idiots

 

[SpeedyV]

No argument from me on this. But how many of these buyers do you honestly think there are? Obviously there aren't enough of them judging by the amount of money Ford and Chevy are losing on EV truck sales. Urban guys wanting a truck for commuting who also want that truck to be electric seems like a pretty small part of the market, even if you include the urban gals wanting an electric truck for their commute.

I would think a huge number of fleet trucks used by contractors "around town" would never come close to pushing the range limits, even if carrying contractor gear and/or pulling a small trailer. I wonder if Ram will target this market with a stripped-down Tradesman or Big Horn REV equivalent.

 

[jimothy]

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For those interested in a number of close-up photos of the Ramcharger chassis, toward the end of this article at MoTales ("Mopar Tales"), there are quite a few good closeups of the exposed Ramcharger chassis:
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Chrysler at the 2025 Detroit Auto Show
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Ah, so that's what became of the old AllPar site! I used to read that frequently, before it became just a forum.

 

[go-ram]

Ah, so that's what became of the old AllPar site! I used to read that frequently, before it became just a forum.

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Well, AllPar is still there, but if I recall correctly, David Zatz sold it a few years ago when he was having health issues and couldn't keep up with it. I believe there is an ongoing cooperative relationship between Zatz and the folks that own AllPar now.
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MoTales is kind of the historical repository, longer articles, mostly MoPar-specific. The daily news for MoPar and general auto-industry-related stuff is at StellPower ("Stellantis Power"). Links below.
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StellPower: Stellpower - that Mopar news site
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MoTales: MoTales: tales of Mopars and Chrysler Corporation
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[LRRP71]

Sounds like you have some idiot EV owners in your area. Tesla and Rivian both have a "pre-heat" capability that also warms up the battery. If they sent leaving their EVs plugged in overnight, and using the features available to them, then they are just idiots

Interesting I didn't know that myself. Though I don't know much about EV's to start with. The guy with the Rivian is smart. He works for Johnston Controls. Maybe it was just to cold around here for the first time in a long time. The Tesla did start the first day, but it was -12* to -18*F last night around here.

I kind of like the Ramcharger idea, and I have nothing against Hybrid. My sister and her husband have Hybrid Highanders. They live in NC and have no problem. Except she feels it has less power than her ICE Highlander she traded in. I am not sure I like the PHEV system that much. Since with the cost of electricity, which just went up for me $35.00/month on a balance budget plan. I am spending almost $335.00/month now. Then usually in the summer months my KW jumps due to A/C use. So come the last 3 months of the year my balanced budget jumps about another $45.00/month.

So, spending money on gas, at the same time, will not save me anything. On top of that they are doing what’s called Rush Hour or Time-of-Day Rates. Which raises the price per KW, I think from 3pm till 9pm. Which raises between the Delivery charge and the Power supply charge. Almost 35 cents/KW between that time. So, from 3-9 in the winter is when it starts to get colder, and in Summer Hotter. The funny thing is the email said try not to use the Dishwasher, washing machine, Dryer, Oven, AC, (Swimming pool which I don't understand) and get this. Charging your EV between those hours. sStill I think a PHEV is still better than an all-electric one since they say you can give electricity back and get money off. I still don’t understand that concept. Since you must recharge your vehicle to gain what you give back to save money.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Interesting I didn't know that myself. Though I don't know much about EV's to start with. The guy with the Rivian is smart. He works for Johnston Controls. Maybe it was just to cold around here for the first time in a long time. The Tesla did start the first day, but it was -12* to -18*F last night around here.

I kind of like the Ramcharger idea, and I have nothing against Hybrid. My sister and her husband have Hybrid Highanders. They live in NC and have no problem. Except she feels it has less power than her ICE Highlander she traded in. I am not sure I like the PHEV system that much. Since with the cost of electricity, which just went up for me $35.00/month on a balance budget plan. I am spending almost $335.00/month now. Then usually in the summer months my KW jumps due to A/C use. So come the last 3 months of the year my balanced budget jumps about another $45.00/month.

So, spending money on gas, at the same time, will not save me anything. On top of that they are doing what’s called Rush Hour or Time-of-Day Rates. Which raises the price per KW, I think from 3pm till 9pm. Which raises between the Delivery charge and the Power supply charge. Almost 35 cents/KW between that time. So, from 3-9 in the winter is when it starts to get colder, and in Summer Hotter. The funny thing is the email said try not to use the Dishwasher, washing machine, Dryer, Oven, AC, (Swimming pool which I don't understand) and get this. Charging your EV between those hours. sStill I think a PHEV is still better than an all-electric one since they say you can give electricity back and get money off. I still don’t understand that concept. Since you must recharge your vehicle to gain what you give back to save money.

Most EVs have apps to control charging. You can set the times you want it to charge, the charge rate, when you want it finished charging, even how much you want it charged. You can have it to where it just charges to 80% instead of full charge if you aren't driving it to max range all the time.

 

[cpetku]

.
For those interested in a number of close-up photos of the Ramcharger chassis, toward the end of this article at MoTales ("Mopar Tales"), there are quite a few good closeups of the exposed Ramcharger chassis:
.
Chrysler at the 2025 Detroit Auto Show
.

If they are really going to build production units in 2Q25, they should have had hands-on at the autoshow. I saw no major reviews of an actual Ramcharger.

 

[StuartV]

It's not just urban guys- lots of surveys have shown less than 25% of pickup owners hauls with their trucks and less than 10% tow more than once a year. Long story short more than half of all truck owners use their truck as a commuter vehicle and to project an image. An EV truck would likely serve many of them well in that use case.

Just because they don't haul or tow more than once a year does not mean that that one time is not their dealbreaker criterion for a purchase.

E.g. Homer takes his family on vacation every summer, towing their camper. They only go once a year. But, he knows they're going to do it every year, so he will simply not consider a vehicle that won't handle that. And Homer is not wealthy, so he does not buy a "commuter car" for the rest of the year and a truck for his one towing trip. He buys the truck that will do the job and just drives that all the time.

My brother and his RAM/Hemi is actually a pretty solid example of exactly this. For road trips where he is not towing/hauling, they take his wife's car, so the fuel economy of his truck, for his daily (relatively short) commute is not a big deal at all.

And then there are the people who buy a truck based simply on what MIGHT come up that they know they want to be able to handle. Kind of like buying a pistol for self-defense. You hope you will never use it. And you probably will NOT ever use it - at least not for the reason you bought it. But, your purchase was still totally governed by accommodating a perceived POSSIBLE need.

I think that covers a LOT of truck buyers outside of the ones that know they are going to tow or haul regularly.

I think this is where the marketing departments that green-lighted EV truck projects failed. They aren't truck owners and they don't understand truck owner mindset. They made decisions based on stats like "less than 25% of pickup owners haul with their trucks and less than 10% tow more than once a year."

They completely failed to recognize and factor in all the people like my brother, who, according to their statistics, should be a prime target for an EV pickup truck but, in real life, would not even consider one.

Those stats are the answers to the wrong questions.

Still I think a PHEV is still better than an all-electric one since they say you can give electricity back and get money off. I still don’t understand that concept. Since you must recharge your vehicle to gain what you give back to save money.

To me, that is kinda irrelevant. And also, you can charge it from the onboard generator, so you COULD sell electricity to the grid that you did not purchase from the grid. If the cost difference between gas and electricity was big enough, that could possibly even be profitable, I guess. Oh, and also, telling you not to use your swimming pool at those times really means they want you to have the pool's pump turned off.

The real beauty (well, one part) of the Ramcharger (or PHEV in general) is that you can choose how you want to power it.

If you have a Ramcharger and electricity gets to be too expensive, you don't even have to plug it in. You can put gas in it, let the onboard generator charge the batteries (or keep them charged) while you're driving, and NEVER plug it in to a charging outlet.

Or, if electricity is cheaper than gas, you can plug it in, drive it around for all your commuting, and never burn a drop of gas.

Complete flexibility that neither an EV nor an ICE-only vehicle offers.

 

[LRRP71]

Just because they don't haul or tow more than once a year does not mean that that one time is not their dealbreaker criterion for a purchase.

E.g. Homer takes his family on vacation every summer, towing their camper. They only go once a year. But, he knows they're going to do it every year, so he will simply not consider a vehicle that won't handle that. And Homer is not wealthy, so he does not buy a "commuter car" for the rest of the year and a truck for his one towing trip. He buys the truck that will do the job and just drives that all the time.

My brother and his RAM/Hemi is actually a pretty solid example of exactly this. For road trips where he is not towing/hauling, they take his wife's car, so the fuel economy of his truck, for his daily (relatively short) commute is not a big deal at all.

And then there are the people who buy a truck based simply on what MIGHT come up that they know they want to be able to handle. Kind of like buying a pistol for self-defense. You hope you will never use it. And you probably will NOT ever use it - at least not for the reason you bought it. But, your purchase was still totally governed by accommodating a perceived POSSIBLE need.

I think that covers a LOT of truck buyers outside of the ones that know they are going to tow or haul regularly.

I think this is where the marketing departments that green-lighted EV truck projects failed. They aren't truck owners and they don't understand truck owner mindset. They made decisions based on stats like "less than 25% of pickup owners haul with their trucks and less than 10% tow more than once a year."

They completely failed to recognize and factor in all the people like my brother, who, according to their statistics, should be a prime target for an EV pickup truck but, in real life, would not even consider one.

Those stats are the answers to the wrong questions.



To me, that is kinda irrelevant. And also, you can charge it from the onboard generator, so you COULD sell electricity to the grid that you did not purchase from the grid. If the cost difference between gas and electricity was big enough, that could possibly even be profitable, I guess. Oh, and also, telling you not to use your swimming pool at those times really means they want you to have the pool's pump turned off.

The real beauty (well, one part) of the Ramcharger (or PHEV in general) is that you can choose how you want to power it.

If you have a Ramcharger and electricity gets to be too expensive, you don't even have to plug it in. You can put gas in it, let the onboard generator charge the batteries (or keep them charged) while you're driving, and NEVER plug it in to a charging outlet.

Or, if electricity is cheaper than gas, you can plug it in, drive it around for all your commuting, and never burn a drop of gas.

Complete flexibility that neither an EV nor an ICE-only vehicle offers.

That makes sense use it either way depending on the price of gas or electricity. Plus your right the electrical company just sent another email. Advising the TOD or Time of day rates start in March. In asterex by pool they have at note at the bottom. Not to have your pump turned on. Which also clarifies what they mean.