“Trucks still need to do truck things.”
That’s how Ram CEO Mike Koval Jr. explains his company’s plan to compete in the electric truck market. “More and more truck intenders are open-minded to the idea of electrification in their pickups,” Koval says. “But they’re not willing to sacrifice our most core attributes that make a truck a truck, like towing, like hauling, and in the future, range and charge time.”
Ram will be the third of the Big Three automakers to show off its first electric pickup. Called the Ram Revolution, it’s just a concept truck for now — a design study showing what a future truck might look like, not necessarily a finished product ready for sale.
The Revolution will break cover on Nov. 17 in advance of the Los Angeles Auto Show. The automaker has released stylized sketches that suggest a sleek, aerodynamic 4-door pickup truck. It looks less conventional than the Ford F-150 Lightning, the first electric truck from one of the traditional Big Three. Chevrolet has also shown off its own Silverado EV, though it’s not expected to reach showrooms until the 2024 model year.
Koval, however, thinks Ram can out-compete the rest with a more traditionally capable truck.
“If you’re towing a 10,000-pound trailer behind your vehicle across the state or across the country, it’s nerve-racking,” Koval says. “We will push past what others have announced with our fuller portfolio of electrified solutions,” he adds.
Tests using startup Rivian’s R1T have revealed that electric trucks can lose about half of their range when towing a full load. Gas-powered trucks lose a similar range when pulling the limits of what they can pull. But filling up a gas-powered truck is a much quicker (if more expensive) affair than recharging an electric one.
