Ram 1500 EV // Range Extender

[moosehead]

While this is like throwing red meat to the wolves, the extender is interesting. Seems like the inverse of most hybrids where the EV component is the primary powerplant.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a39038431/ram-1500-ev-truck-range-extender-report/

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[Joints4Sale]

I'm still hopeful that Rivian will offer a Range Extender battery, that will fit in the gear tunnel. more range when you need it and less weight when you don't. Rivian did file for a patents on a "electric jerrycan".

 

[COdogman]

Given the Stellantis CEO’s constant complaining about the switch to EVs, I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise they would do everything they can to avoid making the jump completely. At least it’s just “optional”. I’ll be curious to see how it sells vs the pure EV version.

 

[COdogman]

I'm still hopeful that Rivian will offer a Range Extender battery, that will fit in the gear tunnel. more range when you need it and less weight when you don't. Rivian did file for a patents on a "electric jerrycan".

I like their idea as well, except the design on the patent would require a forklift to add/ remove the extra battery into the bed of the truck and doesn’t appear it work with the tonneau cover.
https://electrek.co/2019/02/21/rivian-patent-auxiliary-battery-r1t-electric-pickup-truck/

 

[Taycanfrank]

I'm still hopeful that Rivian will offer a Range Extender battery, that will fit in the gear tunnel. more range when you need it and less weight when you don't. Rivian did file for a patents on a "electric jerrycan".

The gear tunnel isn't a safe zone during crashes. Putting a battery in there would have significant risk of a lithium fire in even a minor accident. So no, that wouldn't be a thing.. at least not without a significant retrofit, certainly not something you could just pop in and out. More likely is trying to have a mobile charging vehicle so you can give a dead car some charge rather than tow it.

 

[the long way downunder]

The gear tunnel isn't a safe zone during crashes. Putting a battery in there would have significant risk of a lithium fire in even a minor accident. So no, that wouldn't be a thing.. at least not without a significant retrofit, certainly not something you could just pop in and out. More likely is trying to have a mobile charging vehicle so you can give a dead car some charge rather than tow it.

A tunnel battery could be comprised of batteries that are not susceptible to thermal runaway (e.g. some of the blade packs from CATL and BYD.)

 

[the long way downunder]

Given the Stellantis CEO’s constant complaining about the switch to EVs, I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise they would do everything they can to avoid making the jump completely. At least it’s just “optional”. I’ll be curious to see how it sells vs the pure EV version.

I think Fiat/Chrysler whatstheirname has since reverse and said "just kidding, no we're not planning on bankruptcy by 2030 … ha ha … now … here's a video animation of a … I'm gonna say … pickup? … : )

 

[the long way downunder]

I like their idea as well, except the design on the patent would require a forklift to add/ remove the extra battery into the bed of the truck and doesn’t appear it work with the tonneau cover.
https://electrek.co/2019/02/21/rivian-patent-auxiliary-battery-r1t-electric-pickup-truck/

That kind of gear box could be rolled into place hanging from an overhead cradle from a wheeled gantry. Something purpose built could be lightweight and collapse into a small space to be carried in the vehicle if need be. The battery "bed box"could be entirely below the tonneau, but the big problem is the diminishing return as the weight of the auxiliary battery detracts from range and performance. It would be more like a purpose-specific device, say for an R1T to function as roadside service with the facility to add 10kWh to a stranded vehicle with a flat battery for example.

 

[the long way downunder]

I'm still hopeful that Rivian will offer a Range Extender battery, that will fit in the gear tunnel. more range when you need it and less weight when you don't. Rivian did file for a patents on a "electric jerrycan".

Range extender means a fuel burning or fuel cell engine that does not drive the vehicle, it just charges the batteries while the vehicle moves under the power of the electric motors, such as the original Chevy Volt. A hybrid has both fuel engine power train and electric traction motor power train combined and turning the same drive train with the electric system charging from both the drivetrain and from regen. An auxiliary battery is appealing, but expensive and a challenge to package, at least till prices plummet as the number of EVs on the road multiplies – once there's volume demand.

I think one large battery that slides into the gear tunnel on a dolly that remains outside the vehicle would be a popular accessory for large and mega pack vehicles. Two packs that load from each side and meet in the middle might be less unwieldy and potentially leave space for the connection of the battery packs to the vehicle working through the access passthrough hatch or tambour door to access the middle of the gear tunnel and plug the packs into DC and even coolant circuits.

The tricky bit would be cooling (there are lossless liquid connectors, but things start to get expensive) and transferring power (which incurs loss when supplying power to the vehicle, after loss incurred while absorbing power into the auxiliary battery.)

Perhaps the various existing "electric gas can" companies (zipcharge and sparkcharge) will work with Rivian to design bespoke packs to fit the gear tunnel or the bed and leave charging the pack and the pack charging to the vehicle to manual connection of charging cables while the vehicle is stationary. These are expensive, but state of the art for now.

https://www.sparkcharge.io
https://www.zipcharge.global

 

[Joints4Sale]

I've had a Range Extender BMW i3. I loved the i3 but hated the fact that it didn't have enough electric range. The addition of an ICE generator makes it too complex for the purpose of maintenance/longevity. I absolutely love my Ram but if I need to put fuel in it, then it will be a Cumins Turbo Diesel and not a hybrid of sorts.

 

[ironpig]

The Chevy Volt was a brilliant vehicle as a bridge to EVs. It's so practical and a shame they killed it early.

A Dodge Ram EV with Range Extender is a great idea. I would consider buying one to tow our horse trailer depending on how much EV range it had before the range extender was required.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

The Chevy Volt was a brilliant vehicle as a bridge to EVs. It's so practical and a shame they killed it early.

A Dodge Ram EV with Range Extender is a great idea. I would consider buying one to tow our horse trailer depending on how much EV range it had before the range extender was required.

completely agree. I had a Volt for 2.5years and only managed to use two tanks of gas one of which was free from the dealer during that time. For the first tank of gas I actually had to force myself to use it otherwise the vehicle would go into fuel maintenance mode and force me to burn the tank off with no option to use electric. Luckily there was an option to switch to use gas versus electric. At about 11 months, I used gas from home to work, and charged only at work during that time.

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