Stellantis’ Ram brand introducing onboard battery charger
DETROIT — One of the biggest reasons people cite when saying they won’t buy an electric vehicle is range anxiety, the fear of running out of juice on the road with nowhere to recharge.
Stellantis’ Ram brand might have an answer for that, especially for people who need a truck to haul or tow. It’s called the Ramcharger, a pickup that can travel 145 miles on electricity, with a 3.6-liter, V6 gas-powered engine linked to a generator that can recharge the battery while the truck is moving.
Electric vehicle sales growth is starting to slow, causing automakers to rethink investments in the transition from internal combustion to electric powertrains. Polls show the reasons are cost, limited range and too few charging stations, unlike gas stations that almost always are nearby.
“There’s so many advantages to a battery electric vehicle, but there are certain things that are slowing people down,” says Tim Kuniskis, CEO of the Ram brand. With the Ramcharger, Kuniskis says he can tell customers “you don’t have to worry about it with this.”
Stellantis, which has been slow to introduce fully electric vehicles in the U.S., is so confident in the new powertrain’s appeal that it plans to offer it in other vehicles. While the company won’t officially comment, a new tentative contract agreement with the
United Auto Workers says Stellantis plans to use the same power system in the Jeep Wrangler small SUV in 2028, and the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer large SUVS in 2025.
The Ramcharger, due in showrooms toward the end of next year, uses 663 horsepower to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 4.4 seconds, the company says. And when the battery is fully charged and the generator’s 27-gallon gas tank is full, it can go up to 690 miles. The truck also can tow a trailer weighing up to 14,000 pounds, more than the current Ram pickup with a V8 engine.
The battery also can be charged at home or at a direct-current fastcharging station, where it can take in enough electricity to add 50 miles of range in about 10 minutes, Stellantis says. With a two-direction home charging station, the truck can power your home in a storm and tools on a job site, Ram engineers said.
Other companies offer gas-electric hybrid trucks for efficiency, and Ford’s can also power a house or tools at work. There also are plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that can travel a shorter distance on electricity before a hybrid powertrain kicks in.
The Ramcharger is unique, Stellantis says, because the gas engine simply produces electricity to charge the battery and doesn’t turn the wheels directly.
Although Kuniskis wouldn’t release projections, he said more than 20 percent of Ram sales will have to be powered at least partly by electricity to meet upcoming
U.S. government fuel economy and emissions requirements. This year, Stellantis unveiled a fully electric Ram pickup called the REV.
Stellantis had the worst fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions of any major automaker, according to a 2022 report by the Environmental Protection Agency.
There’s a segment of truck shoppers who want the performance of an electric vehicle but don’t want to sacrifice range or towing, Guidehouse Insights analyst Sam Abuelsamid says. High prices have kept many away from electric pickups offered by Ford, General Motors and Rivian, so Stellantis will have to keep the price reasonable, he said.
“They have a package that could be the right mix for people that would like to be able to go electric, have the performance of an electric powertrain but also still have that confidence to go long distances and tow a boat or jet skis,” he says. “They can just stop and put gas in it.”
Demand for electric vehicles in the U.S. has started to level off after a couple of years of huge growth. In August, automakers sold almost 111,000 EVS, equating to 8.3 percent of the total market. But in September, sales dropped to just under 106,000, or 7.9 percent of the market.