By Greg Karpinski
2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Tungsten
The Electric Vehicles are upon us. Whether you’re a diehard fan of internal combustion or just someone who simply doesn’t like change, it doesn’t matter, the EV Overlords are coming. That said, the future doesn’t look so bad for us gearheads – compelling cars like the upcoming 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 N give us cause to celebrate and begin to believe that an EV can actually be fun, as opposed to a cold, soulless appliance. There’s no argument from us here at The Driver’s Line that EVs are our motoring future – zero emissions, nearly always cheaper to “fuel” and with advances in recycling batteries, sustainability should only improve.
However, there are drawbacks. EVs still command prices that put many out of reach for the average consumer. This is shifting with time as EV prices come down and the average price of a new car increases, but remains a lingering impediment for many who may want to make the move. Charging infrastructure also leaves a lot to be desired – many Electrify America and ChargePoint locations routinely have long waits and one or more chargers experiencing downtime. Ownership can be so frustrating at times that one of our favorite scribes, Jill Ciminillo, recently wrote a piece for Pickup Truck and SUV Talk that described her experience, which resulted in a 200 mile journey taking six hours as opposed to the projected three. The lone standout in this category is Tesla’s Supercharging network, which has proven to be both quick and reliable. As more automakers move to Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), their vehicles will be able to leverage Superchargers – a double-edged sword as the charging solution is faster and more reliable; however, demand will likely outpace supply.
So, given the imperfect nature of our current national charging network, what’s the right EV to buy? You could get a Tesla and enjoy the solid Supercharger network on your travels, but what if you didn’t have to? Maybe you don’t want an EV that’s irrevocably tied to its outspoken manchild CEO? Maybe you don’t want one whose silence is drowned out by the owner’s virtue signaling or that looks like an amorphous blob?
Enter the 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger.
For the Ramcharger, Ram has taken a page out of General Motors’ 2010 playbook and no, it’s not horrible build quality and plastic fantastic interiors. What they have done is built an EV with essentially unlimited range that does not rely on our patchwork EV charging network. Mirroring the design of the Chevrolet Volt, Ram outfitted the Ramcharger with their 3.6L Pentastar V6 acting as a 130-kilowatt onboard generator to top up the liquid-cooled 92 kWh battery whenever it’s running low. Again, like the Volt, the Ramcharger moves purely on EV power, but does allow the generator to increase power to the motor and gearbox when necessary. That combination gives the Ramcharger an impressive 663 total horsepower and 615 pound-feet of torque and can sprint from a standstill to 60mph in 4.4 seconds!
2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Limited & Laramie
Running purely off that 92 kWh battery, the Ramcharger can travel approximately 145 miles in perfect conditions, but with a full tank of gasoline for that onboard generator, range balloons to an estimated 690 miles. The best part? If you pull up to a charging station that’s either full or broken, you can simply stop at any gas station and top up the 27 gallon fuel tank for your generator and then keep on truckin’! Ram estimates that most owners will use the Level 2 (240V) charger, rated up to 11 kilowatts at home, but the truck is capable of using a DC fast-charger with a rate of 145 kilowatts, adding up to 50 miles in 10 minutes. Similar to the Ford F150 Lightning, the Ramcharger can act as a mobile charging station, with bi-directional capabilities of 7.2 kilowatts output to your home or other EVs.
Visually, the Ramcharger actually looks like your typical four door truck instead of something that a child scribbled on a napkin after watching Mad Max, which is a massive win. It nicely bridges the gap between the Ram 1500 and Ram 1500 REV, both in appearance and capability. Given this powertrain, you may be concerned that the Ramcharger won’t be able to do “truck” things, such as towing an airplane or hauling a bed full of rock home from the jobsite. Those fears are misplaced, because Ram estimates that the Ramcharger will be able to tow up to 14,000 pounds and have a payload capacity of 2,625 pounds. So, it’s a truck that looks like a truck and acts like a truck. Cool!
Inside, the Ramcharger comes with all the accoutrements you’d expect in a modern full-size pickup. It has an available 14.5” Uconnect touchscreen to choose entertainment, view navigation and customize comfort settings, though a 10.3” touchscreen will be standard. Jumping on the bandwagon with a growing feature in the marketplace, Ram will also offer owners the ability to use their smartphone as a key. Owners with a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch can add a digital key, which they can share with other compatible Apple devices. Android users are again outta luck. With the new Tungsten trimline, Ram offers an interior that rivals many luxury sedans, with premium leather 24-way power front seats with heat, ventilation and memory functions and a Klipsch Reference Premiere Audio System with 1,224 watts and 23 speakers. Ram literally ran out of places to put speakers so they placed speakers on the front seatbacks. Xzibit would be proud.
2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Interior & Chassis
Ram has also seen fit to offer the Ramcharger with a power tailgate! It can be controlled with the key fob, a button on the overhead console or on the tailgate handle. As a lover of fancy tailgates, Jordan would be proud.
Playing the EV game, Ram also makes available many safety and security features to make life a little easier navigating this very large vehicle. All the cool kids are here: Parksense Automated Parking, Active Lane Management, Evasive Steer Assist, Intersection Collision Assistance System, Drowsy Driver Detection and Traffic Sign Recognition. Along with that extensive list of safety features, a Level 2 hands-free driver assist system will purportedly be available, similar to that of Ford’s BlueCruise and GM’s industry-best Super Cruise.
Ready to rip out your checkbook and buy the best EV for right now? Two problems – first, Ram has yet to announce pricing and, second, it won’t be available until late 2024. We anticipate that it’s going to be rather pricey, but competitive with the likes of the Ford F150 Lightning, Rivian R1T and the upcoming Silverado and Sierra EVs. Interested parties can head on over to RAMREV.com and reserve a slot for a refundable $100 membership fee. With the rEVolution starting to take place, the Ram 1500 Ramcharger is the EV that solves many of the shortcomings faced with electric vehicle ownership and makes it accessible to a resistant demographic. I can’t wait to see how it goes.
2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Tradesman
Comments