Ram targets 800-kilometre range on electric 1500 REV pickup

The 2025 Ram 1500 REV electric pickup will have a more conservative look than the Revolution concept truck shown earlier this year and a targeted range of 800 kilomtres with its largest battery pack — numbers that will best its competitors.

Ram said the REV will offer a standard 168-kilowatt-hour battery pack with a range target of up to 560 kilometres, while it's aiming for up to 800 kilometres with the optional 229-kWh battery pack. An extended-range version with a gasoline-powered engine to charge the battery also is in the works, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said.

The REV, Ram's first battery-electric pickup, was slated to debut Wednesday morning at the New York International Auto Show.

Scheduled to go on sale in late 2024, the REV made a brief appearance in the brand's Super Bowl ad in February. Ram leveraged the game's massive audience to jump-start reservations and the REV sold out in three days. Brand CEO Mike Koval Jr., highlighting the excitement around the vehicle, noted that the rush of preorders happened even before Ram released the truck's performance metrics.

"There's something about how we've gone to market and the message that we've conveyed to not only our current customers, but also future customers, that has resonated," Koval told sibling publication Automotive News last month. "It's been overwhelming. The early interest in that particular truck has exceeded our expectations."

Stellantis is joining the electric pickup race later than its rivals, but executives say this has given the automaker time to gauge them and work to surpass them in key areas such as range, towing, payload and charge time.

The 800-kilometre range for the REV's 229-kWh battery pack and its targeted 6,350 kilograms of towing capacity exceed what's on the market now. Chevrolet is going after 9,070 kilograms of towing for the work truck variant of its 2025 Silverado EV pickup.

Ram said it is aiming for the REV to deliver a 0-to-100 km/h time of 4.4 seconds, 654 hp and 620 pound-feet of torque. It's designed to ford up to 24 inches (63 centimetres) of water and carry a maximum payload of 1,225 kilograms.

Koval has said the REV is a "direct descendant" of the edgy Revolution concept truck that debuted in January at CES in Las Vegas. This influence is evident on the REV's face, with its "tuning fork" lighting scheme and lit "RAM" logo.

The body shape, however, is closer to its conventional gasoline counterparts.

Other Revolution features left out include the removable third-row jump seats and Ram Track, a rail attachment system that allows the seats and console to be repositioned for greater cabin flexibility.

Tavares said the beauty of a concept vehicle such as the Revolution is that it allows automakers to "show the way and free our imaginations," even if every idea doesn't make it into production right away.

"You don't find 100 per cent of the innovations of a concept car on the next generation," Tavares said at a virtual roundtable in February. "You find some of it, hopefully a lot of it, but not everything.

"That will then be spread through the life cycle management of that product and the next generation of products," he said.

Ram's REV is built on the new STLA Frame platform for full-size body-on-frame EVs. Both battery options can replenish up to 175 kilometres of range in approximately 10 minutes with 800-volt DC fast charging at up to 350 kilowatts.

The REV lineup comprises five trim levels, topped by the Tungsten, which includes a power tailgate and 23-speaker sound system. Its front trunk offers 15 cubic feet of storage.

Buyers can choose either a 12-inch or 14.5-inch infotainment touch screen. The automaker also put a 10.25-inch touch screen on the passenger side that allows for controlling the navigation system and viewing exterior cameras.

Connecting a phone or tablet to the HDMI port turns the passenger touch screen into a "mirrored extension of their device, allowing internet searches, music and app use to project through the Uconnect 5 system," Ram said.

The REV features a hands-free active driving assist system and ParkSense automated parking system. Ram said the active driving assist is available for both hands-on-wheel and hands-free driving using lane centering with adaptive cruise control.

"All of our vehicles have a very strong identity no matter what price class they are," said Mark Trostle, vice president of the Ram Truck design studio. "With the REV, we wanted to continue that as well and do something that was very Ram-like and very true to what the vehicle is."