Much like the Ford F-150 Lightning and upcoming Chevrolet Silverado EV, a future Ram electric truck won’t be limited to a couple of models.
According to Ram CEO Mike Koval, in an interview prior to the introduction of the Ram 1500 Revolution Concept Thursday at CES, there’s likely to be a wide range fully electric Ram trucks, including work-truck models and high-performance off-road TRX versions.
“I truly believe that we can walk and chew gum,” Koval said. “This is a complement to our existing portfolio, and I would expect when we go to market from 2024, the lineup will look very similar in terms of construct to today’s lineup.”
“We’ll have something for everybody from the entry level or what we call the Tradesmen, which is decidedly work-oriented, all the way up through our Longhorn and Limited Premium models, to the off-road king of the hill, the TRX,” he said. “And the EDMs (electric drive modules) that we’re designing for this are protected for higher-performance applications, so I think you’ll see a very similar go-to-market strategy.”
Ram 1500 Revolution BEV concept
We asked Koval why the concept is so closely aligned with the full-size gasoline Ram models, and why isn’t it a smaller mid-size truck. He said with light-duty full-size trucks making up more than 60% of the brand’s sales volume, it was the natural positioning for the EV as an “evolution of the body-on-frame full-size truck—our bread and butter.”
“I fully appreciate that the biggest whitespace opportunity for our brand on a global basis is mid-size pickups,” he added. “Now, we don’t have anything to announce today, but we’re looking at everything, and it’s our job to flesh all of these different options out and we rest assuredly are.”
Koval also wouldn’t verify if there are other fully electric Ram models on the way. Examples could include a truck on the STLA Large platform that will underpin the upcoming Dodge electric muscle car or a Suburban-like SUV on the Ram 1500 Revolution’s STLA Frame architecture.
“I think that’s the beauty of when we announced our architecture strategy, and its flexibility,” Koval said. “From my perspective, the options are limitless, and anything that we can do to improve our business model around the globe, not just in North America, we’re certainly going to take a look at.”
Ram 1500 Revolution BEV concept
The Ram concept is “a visionary roadmap of where we’re taking the brand into the future,” Koval said. “And everything that our customers and fans see for the brand, going forward, will somewhere be a descendant of this concept vehicle and what we’re unveiling at CES.”
One of those future Ram models will also likely be a plug-in hybrid truck that could excel in real-world range while towing—one of many advantages Ram is hoping to claim with electrified trucks in the near future.