The recently revealed 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger is the world’s first series-hybrid pickup truck. While that might sound a bit pompous, it may also turn out to be the best solution to the biggest problem faced by drivers of all-electric pickups: the dramatic decrease in range when towing or hauling anything close to the vehicle’s limits.
In fact, the towing test was what made Stellantis engineers go down the gasoline-electric route for the Ramcharger. “We took one of our competitor’s trucks and loaded it up to their towing rate,” said Joe Tolkacz, Ramcharger propulsion system chief engineer for Automotive News. “Then we took it [from Stellantis headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., just north of Detroit] to Flint and back [about 76 miles] and we didn’t make it. We had to stop and charge. We said we really need to do something to extend the capability.”
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What’s the deal with this series-hybrid stuff?
Some hybrid vehicles on the market have a small electric motor integrated into the transmission, but the Ramcharger is different.
Its 3.6-liter V6 engine is not mechanically connected to the wheels. Instead, it turns a 130-kilowatt generator that sends electrical power to the high-voltage battery and/or to the two electric motors that set the vehicle in motion.
In the case of the 2024 Ramcharger, a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine sits under the hood and its sole purpose in life is to spin a 130-kilowatt electric generator. The gas-burning engine is not connected to the wheels in any way, leaving the job of providing motivation to a pair of electric motors that get their juice from a 92-kilowatt-hour battery pack nestled between the chassis rails.
Gallery: 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger
We already knew this. We also knew that the total estimated range of the Ramcharger is 690 miles, a figure that takes into account both a fully-charged battery and a full tank of gas. But what we didn’t know was how many miles one could drive on battery power alone or how much fuel the tank could hold. Until now, that is.
In an in-depth discussion with Automotive News, Tolkacz discussed the ins and outs of the peculiar truck, and there are some very interesting takeaways.
On battery power alone, the 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger–which is not the same as the upcoming all-electric Ram 1500 REV–can drive up to 141 miles, according to Stellantis. Furthermore, the fuel tank can hold 27 gallons of gasoline, which is more than what the 26-gallon tank of the 2024 Ram 1500 Crew Cab can hold.
The fact that refueling with gasoline is much faster than fast-charging a high-voltage battery can make some potential customers go for Stellantis’ hybrid instead of a full-on EV. “We saw a lot of advantages. It was very tied to the use model for pickups. We think our customers are looking for a no-compromise truck. They like the idea of electric, and so this fit really well with that,” Tolkacz told Automotive News.
Furthermore, the somewhat chaotic engine revving that’s characteristic of regular hybrid vehicles is no issue in the Ramcharger, it seems. “One of the criticisms of hybrids is that you’ll see engine speed flares and things like that,” Tolkacz said. “We developed a strategy so that when the driver tips in on the [accelerator] pedal, the engine operation is intuitive. You’ll see very typical operation. We have to balance that with efficiency, so it won’t be exactly like a diesel or a conventional gasoline engine, but it will be intuitive.”
It will be interesting to see how Stellantis managed to tone down the droning sound of the engine when it needs to replenish the battery. In most, if not all other hybrids, the combustion engine can sometimes start out of the blue and rev up to 3,000 rpm or even higher because it needs to provide electricity to the high-voltage battery. This may happen even when waiting for a traffic light to go green, which is anything but calming.
All things considered–and we still don’t know how much the Ramcharger weighs–the hybrid truck is no slouch, accelerating from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 4.4 seconds. That’s as quick as a V8-powered Bentley Bentayga ultra-luxury SUV.
It can tow up to 14,000 pounds, it can act as an all-electric pickup, it can drive the distance if the fuel tank is full, and it can provide power from its high-voltage battery to other vehicles, appliances, and even an entire house, acting as both a work truck and a mobile generator.
We don’t know how much the Ramcharger will cost but if priced correctly, it might be a game changer in the world of pickups, and not just in the environmentally friendly category.
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