Ram CEO Says Ramcharger Is 'The Goldilocks Truck'

[RWerksman]

EVERYTHING Stellantis does these days is half assed.

As a many-time Jeep owner I can confidently say this isn't true.

Much of their crap is clearly 1/4 assed.

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[Thedude]

But the extender doesn’t even power the propulsion. It’s just to charge the battery. I dunno - seems like there is some weird inefficiency here.

It’s still delivering energy for propulsion, albeit in a different path. At 30% efficiency it can convert that 27 gallon tank to about 270kwh of energy to power the motors. Subtract some conversion and use inefficiencies, add the initial battery capacity and you get close to the projected range of 690 miles (360kwh x 2mi/kwh = 720 miles).

 

[kenyee]

But more info here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/aut...amcharger-erev-gets-a-92-kwh-battery-20-5-mpg

Interesting that the ICE engine directly powers the motors instead of charging the battery when it's kicked in...

 

[RWerksman]

Per Alex on Autos:

20%-80% in 45 minutes.
10%-80% in about an hour.

BZ4X in truck form. Friggen yikes.
Just get a ICE truck or a F-150 hybrid.

 

[strykerwsu]

Nobody will charge it. It's just gonna give gasoholics a smoother drive with the same environmental impact.

I will. Except the few times when gas is needed.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

It’s still delivering energy for propulsion, albeit in a different path. At 30% efficiency it can convert that 27 gallon tank to about 270kwh of energy to power the motors. Subtract some conversion and use inefficiencies, add the initial battery capacity and you get close to the projected range of 690 miles (360kwh x 2mi/kwh = 720 miles).

Do we really need a V6 to charge the battery?

 

[Thedude]

Do we really need a V6 to charge the battery?

Doubt it, but it’s an easy off the shelf, reliable and widely used engine for Stellantis. The engine/generator needs to be able to output a pretty high continuous load and even higher short burst load in order to keep up with motor demands once the battery is drained. The math may have worked out that the V6 tuning at a more moderate RPM was more reliable than a smaller, more efficient but higher strung engine? I don’t know.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Figgin yikes - can you imagine how colossally terrible the range on this thing is going to be in the winter? 91kwh (less than 70 usable) at 2m/kw likely in ideal conditions. Damn thing is going to 400-450 miles of range from 91kwn + 27 gallons of fuel in freezing cold.

This feels like something that makes a lot of sense on paper and maybe not so much in reality, let alone with the Stellantis braintrust working on it.

It's gonna be great, the engine can warm the battery, just run the exhaust through the centre of the pack!

Vroom!... I mean... Boom!

 

[portdirect]

Doubt it, but it’s an easy off the shelf, reliable and widely used engine for Stellantis. The engine/generator needs to be able to output a pretty high continuous load and even higher short burst load in order to keep up with motor demands once the battery is drained. The math may have worked out that the V6 tuning at a more moderate RPM was more reliable than a smaller, more efficient but higher strung engine? I don’t know.

Stallantis make loads of better engines in the EU around the same output that are more efficient. It would make most sense for the engine to ‘kick in’ around 20% SoC so it never needs to provide the heavy hit, and the battery takes that load off its plate. Something feels off about this - and I was super excited for years on hoping ram got it right this time. I unfortunately suspect the engine was chosen to make the existing client base feel more comfortable than any other reason.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

To me this is less about giving people an EV to get away from gasoline reliance, and more about delivering EV performance using a gasoline engine and a glorified capacitor.

My co-worker was kinda... RAMming the Ram Rev down my throat as a "suck it Rivian" look at what my beloved Ram is doing! And part of me was actually happy, because he was actually considering an EV (of sorts) but this is less EV than I had hoped, and a bit of a miss.

 

[RWerksman]

Stallantis make loads of better engines in the EU around the same output that are more efficient. It would make most sense for the engine to ‘kick in’ around 20% SoC so it never needs to provide the heavy hit, and the battery takes that load off its plate. Something feels off about this - and I was super excited for years on hoping ram got it right this time. I unfortunately suspect the engine was chosen to make the existing client base feel more comfortable than any other reason.

Supposedly, it's because it uses 87 octane and it's rated for continual power output. Realistically, I think it's because the design is effectively depreciated and cheaper on paper.

 

[Riviot]

It’s still delivering energy for propulsion, albeit in a different path. At 30% efficiency it can convert that 27 gallon tank to about 270kwh of energy to power the motors. Subtract some conversion and use inefficiencies, add the initial battery capacity and you get close to the projected range of 690 miles (360kwh x 2mi/kwh = 720 miles).

Umm, if you actually read the other threads here (about kWh pricing) you'd know that ICE are 100% efficient at converting gasoline to kJ to vrooms. /s

I'm still lost at why y'all are hating on this thing, it's a plug-in hybrid truck, the first to be sold in the U.S. It ain't for us Rivian owners, it's for the other dudes on the fence. If the popularity and sales numbers of the RAV4 Prime tells us anything, it's Americans like plug-in hybrids.

 

[Davethadog]

I want one. I’d never fast charge it but I could actually tow my trailer meaningful distances. Fast charging speed is irellevent for this vehicle as is gas efficiency, nobody with a truck really cares and if 90% of the miles you drive are within 50 miles.

Energy density is a real problem for EVs and this is a solution for a good section of people.

 

[Zorg]

If one tows long distance or goes far off grid, it makes sense. Otherwise, not so much.

 

[DeafPug]

So, it's less efficient than an Ecoboost F150 ICE. WOW, that's not great.

What’s the tow rating on that Ecoboost-powered F-150? The Ramcharger is (announced that it will be) rated at 14,000 pounds.

Do we really need a V6 to charge the battery?

See above.

To be able to generate the kW needed to power the drive motors towing a 14,000 pound trailer up ”The Gauntlet” (I-70 departing West out of Denver) when the batteries are fully depleted and the only energy available is coming from the motor in real-time, you need a massively oversized engine for most other situations. This will lead to lower efficiency.

As another person mentioned, the Ramcharger is designed to solve the long-distance towing problem. If that isn’t your use-case, at least part of the time, this vehicle is less likely to be a good match for you. My towing needs are very light, but any towing other than strictly around town (to the local dump for example) is problematic with the R1T, so I have been keeping an eye on this vehicle as a possible future purchase.

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