Detroit Free Press Car, Truck, Utility of the Year revealed
Decades of work by Toyota and a bold new strategy from General Motors pay off with great vehicles, all priced in the heart of the market.
The 2026 Ram 1500 Ramcharger full-size electric pickup is not a hybrid.The 1500 Ramcharger is expected to be priced ‘slightly higher than’ the average transaction price of an internal combustion pickup.
Ram has revealed details of its radically engineered 2026 1500 Ramcharger electric full-size pickup, including the vehicle’s 690-mile cruising range and 14,000-pound towing capacity.
The vehicle is expected to go on sale in the second half of this year, and while prices are TBD, Ram boss Tim Kuniskis made it clear the plan is to make them competitive with gasoline and diesel pickups like the Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado 1500.
That is despite the Ramchargerβs elaborate powertrain, which uses a 92 kWh battery and a gasoline powered electricity generator to deliver the brandβs bold performance promises.
But donβt expect a Ramcharger priced like a base-model internal-combustion pickup.
The goal is to be βslightly higher thanβ the average transaction price of an internal combustion pickup, Kuniskis said, before launching into an ode to a hypothetical electric pickup priced atΒ $69,985.
That would place the hypothetical truck within the price range of conventional F-150s and Silverados, unlike the premium-priced first editions with which other automakers launched their EV pickups.
Kuniskis, who previously ran the Dodge and Ram brands, recently returned to Stellantis after a brief retirement/sabbatical during which some of his previous bosses got broomed for a string of bad decisions. He brings with him a record of success and credibility inside and outside the company.
Itβs unlikely the wily executive pulled a number of his hat. If thereβs not a well-equipped production Ramcharger priced within shouting distance of his hypothetical electric pickup by the middle of next year, somebodyβs gonna have some explaining to do.
The Ramcharger is an electric vehicle with an asterisk, but itβs an asterisk pickup buyers may welcome.
Its 149-mile battery range is paltry compared with the battery range of the F-150 Lightning and Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 electric pickups, but the Ramcharger comes with a gasoline-powered generator and 27-gallon fuel tank to produce more electricity when the battery is exhausted.
Combined with the battery, they give the Ramcharger a highway range up to 690 miles.
On top of that, towing increases the drain on batteries. Many pickup owners worry an EV means stopping to charge every couple of hundred miles β maybe even less.
Towing uses more gasoline, too, but not as much, and itβs easier and faster to fill up at a gas station than to recharge at even the quickest available DC fast chargers.
A Ramcharger could tow a horse trailer coast to coast and never stop longer than it took the fill the tank.
The downside to that: Just about all Ramchargers will at least occasionally run on gasoline, and that procures more emissions than driving an EV charged from the electric grid.
A possible upside: Most owners can probably do nearly all their daily driving using cleaner and less expensive electricity they charge with at home overnight.
The Ramchargerβs super power is delivering all the benefits EVs promise with none of their potential downside, Kuniskis said.
It provides the towing and long-range performance pickup owners expect with the benefits characteristic of electric power: smooth, quiet operation, immediate torque and strong acceleration.
The generator can send energy to the battery or the two pickupβs electric motors, but itβs never connected to the wheels, one of the reasons the Ramcharger is an EV rather than a plug-in hybrid. The systemβs controls wonβt let the battery run completely out, keeping a reserve to supplement the generatorβs power if needed towing up a hill, for instance.
The pickup will offer a long list of unusual features:
More torque than what is produced from the most powerful Hemi V8 engineFour-wheel drive250 kW front motor248 kW rear motorDisconnecting front wheels to switch to two-wheel drive for efficiencySimulated low range for off-roadElectronic locking rear differentialAbility to power a house, worksite or charge a stranded EVSTLA-F frame reinforced for towing and crash protectionInterior design and controls similar to conventional RamAvailable one-pedal driving
βIt does the things people already do with trucks, but even better,β Ram chief truck development engineer Doug Killian said.
Four-wheel-drive, five- or six-seat, four-door full-size electric pickup
Powerplant: 250kW electric motor on front axle, 248 kW motor on rear
Total system output: 455 horsepower; 523 pound-feet of torque
Generator set: Gasoline-powered 3.6L V6 engine linked to 202 kW electric generator
Power: 617 hp, 610 pound-feet of torque
Estimated battery range: 145 miles
Estimated range with full battery and tank of gasoline: 690 miles
Battery: 400-volt 91.8 kWh lithium-ion. 69.7 kWh useable power
Charging time: Eight hours at 240 volts; 20%-80% in about 45 minutes at 350 kW
0-60 mph: 4.5 seconds
Top speed: 114 mph
Wheelbase: 144.6 inches
Length: 232.4 inches
Width: 81.2 inches
Height: 77.3 inches (Air suspension normal)
Ground clearance: 9 inches (Air suspension normal)
Battery weight: 1,216 pounds
Estimated curb weight: 7,507 pounds
Estimated payload: 2,625 pounds
Estimated towing capacity: 14,000 pounds
Assembled in Sterling Heights, Michigan
Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731Β orΒ mmphelan@freepress.com.Β Follow him on TwitterΒ @mark_phelan. Read more onΒ autosΒ and sign up for ourΒ autos newsletter.Β Become a subscriber.
