Bluey
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Some interesting news on the heels of the Ram 1500 REV. I want to see a smaller lifestyle truck from Ram to compete with Maverick.
Motortrend: https://www.motortrend.com/events/2023-ram-dealers-midsize-electric-pickup-truck-march/
Ram Will Show Dealers a Midsize Electric Pickup Truck Next Month
Production of the 2024 Ram 1500 REV will start next year while a concept midsize pickup will be shown to dealers in March.
Alisa Priddle Feb 13, 2023
Now that the production version of the 2024 Ram 1500 REV has been revealed over the weekend, Ram boss Mike Koval Jr. is ready for his side project: a midsize pickup truck to fill a giant gap in Ram's global portfolio. It would fill a hole left by the Dodge Dakota which was discontinued in 2011. Koval said there is a concept that will be shown to dealers at a large meeting planned for March to get their reaction. "We can clinic it to see if it is the right truck."
Midsize Pickup Concept Ready to Clinic
Efforts to fill the white space have been unsuccessful for years. Chrysler, under various owners, has been committed to the idea but could never get a business case to work. Executives have also struggled to settle on a platform and to decide between body-on-frame or a car-based lifestyle truck.
Many of those decisions still have not been made, Koval says, but we suspect it will be more lifestyle oriented, with STLA Large as the architecture. It would be electrified in some way. The entire Ram lineup will eventually be electrified, part of the Stellantis Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan that will phase out combustion engines for all 14 Stellantis brands.
First up is the Ram ProMaster. An electric version of the fullsize commercial van will be delivering packages for Amazon in the second half of the year.
REV Design Nearly Locked
The design of the production Ram 1500 REV is largely locked in but there is wiggle room for some small tweaks. Based on the reaction to the concept, no major changes are needed, he says, and as the start of production inches closer, it is time to put the pencils down. The trick is to provide a truck that is modern but not George Jetson space age in design. The inference is the final version will be more conservative than the concept. "You don't abandon your core," Koval says of Ram's loyal customer base.
The REV is expected to have regular doors for the crew cab, Ramboxes that are about twice the size as the ones on today's Ram, tracks that run from the frunk, through the cabin, and extend to the end of the pickup bed, and in industry-first third row of jump seats. The Revolution concept will travel to the Work Truck Show in Indianapolis and be at the New York International Auto Show this spring.
Ram will continue to build 1500s with a gas engine for a while after the REV EV hits the market to give consumers propulsion options. The brand is also considering a Ram with a "range-electric paradigm breaker" which means plug-in hybrid with a small gas engine to keep charge in the battery to extend the range for those who need the efficiency of electrification but more range than an EV offers. It would also use the same STLA Frame architecture but have a different body to accommodate the engine. Koval says it is something Ram is looking at, but it represents some engineering challenges, and it is not guaranteed that Ram will do it.
Source: https://www.motortrend.com/events/2023-ram-dealers-midsize-electric-pickup-truck-march/
Motortrend: https://www.motortrend.com/events/2023-ram-dealers-midsize-electric-pickup-truck-march/
Ram Will Show Dealers a Midsize Electric Pickup Truck Next Month
Production of the 2024 Ram 1500 REV will start next year while a concept midsize pickup will be shown to dealers in March.
Alisa Priddle Feb 13, 2023
Now that the production version of the 2024 Ram 1500 REV has been revealed over the weekend, Ram boss Mike Koval Jr. is ready for his side project: a midsize pickup truck to fill a giant gap in Ram's global portfolio. It would fill a hole left by the Dodge Dakota which was discontinued in 2011. Koval said there is a concept that will be shown to dealers at a large meeting planned for March to get their reaction. "We can clinic it to see if it is the right truck."
Midsize Pickup Concept Ready to Clinic
Efforts to fill the white space have been unsuccessful for years. Chrysler, under various owners, has been committed to the idea but could never get a business case to work. Executives have also struggled to settle on a platform and to decide between body-on-frame or a car-based lifestyle truck.
Many of those decisions still have not been made, Koval says, but we suspect it will be more lifestyle oriented, with STLA Large as the architecture. It would be electrified in some way. The entire Ram lineup will eventually be electrified, part of the Stellantis Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan that will phase out combustion engines for all 14 Stellantis brands.
First up is the Ram ProMaster. An electric version of the fullsize commercial van will be delivering packages for Amazon in the second half of the year.
REV Design Nearly Locked
The design of the production Ram 1500 REV is largely locked in but there is wiggle room for some small tweaks. Based on the reaction to the concept, no major changes are needed, he says, and as the start of production inches closer, it is time to put the pencils down. The trick is to provide a truck that is modern but not George Jetson space age in design. The inference is the final version will be more conservative than the concept. "You don't abandon your core," Koval says of Ram's loyal customer base.
The REV is expected to have regular doors for the crew cab, Ramboxes that are about twice the size as the ones on today's Ram, tracks that run from the frunk, through the cabin, and extend to the end of the pickup bed, and in industry-first third row of jump seats. The Revolution concept will travel to the Work Truck Show in Indianapolis and be at the New York International Auto Show this spring.
Ram will continue to build 1500s with a gas engine for a while after the REV EV hits the market to give consumers propulsion options. The brand is also considering a Ram with a "range-electric paradigm breaker" which means plug-in hybrid with a small gas engine to keep charge in the battery to extend the range for those who need the efficiency of electrification but more range than an EV offers. It would also use the same STLA Frame architecture but have a different body to accommodate the engine. Koval says it is something Ram is looking at, but it represents some engineering challenges, and it is not guaranteed that Ram will do it.
Source: https://www.motortrend.com/events/2023-ram-dealers-midsize-electric-pickup-truck-march/