Ram 1500 Revolution electric truck: the Ford F-150 Lightning faces real competition at CES 2023
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Ram 1500 Revolution electric truck: the Ford F-150 Lightning faces real competition at CES 2023
Ram CEO Mike Koval Jr. called the BEV concept "a truck that trucks beyond your wildest imagination."
Ram is a name synonymous with performance. Once merely the truck and van arm of Dodge, the brand has stood on its own for more than a decade – and it’s no slouch. From 2019 to 2021, variations of the Ram won MotorTrend’s prestigious Truck of the Year award three years in a row. It was only bested recently with the Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 Lightning taking home the gold in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
What do the R1T and F-150 Lightning have in common? For starters, they’ve both forfeited their internal combustion engines (ICEs) in favor of electronic motors. At CES 2023, Ram confirmed it will be doing the same… sort of. While the BEV (battery electric vehicle) concept its parent company Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) showed off today is fully electric, CEO Mike Koval quietly told Green Car Reports there will also be a plug-in hybrid option.
That could be an effective interim solution for some Americans as automakers investigate new ways to meet demanding range requirements from car buyers in the states. While the Rivian R1T and F-150 Lightning each push a little over 320 miles of range on a single charge, General Motors says its upcoming Chevy Silverado EV will hit 400. It was rumored that the Ram 1500 Revolution would offer 500 miles of range, but that remains to be seen.
We do know that its 800-volt DC fast charger can add 100 miles to the battery in just 10 minutes. As a means to the 500-mile end, Stellantis also talked a great deal about solid-state batteries, which it plans to introduce to its vehicles in 2026. This could allow Ram to take a “more with less” approach, also paving the way for lighter chassis.
Depending on your setup, it can take up to 68.89 hours to charge an F-150 Lightning to 80% power at home. Installing the Level 2 charger needed to make that 9.39 hours isn’t viable for everyone, either due to cost or electrical wiring limitations.
Other features planned for the Ram 1500 Revolution sound even more fantastical. The voice-activated Shadow Mode, for instance, will let the car follow you around using cameras and sensors as you walk without a driver at the helm, bringing a whole new meaning to “ghost riding the whip.” That could spare you the hassle of walking back and forth while placing items in the truck bed or completing similar tasks.
A built-in projector could even play movies on a surface outside the truck – or you can just remove and replace the infotainment display and use it like a tablet. Another use for the display is an “intelligent storage” app that measures your items before you load them into the truck to make sure they’ll fit.
The Ram 1500 Revolution will arrive in some form when it begins production in 2024. In the meantime, we can sit back and appreciate all of the exciting and outlandish new ideas emerging from auto brands worldwide, such as BMW’s impressive color-shifting paint tech or VW’s glow-in-the-dark wrap.