The best electric vehicle? Ram1500 ramcharger?

[dtrkyman]

My cousin in on his 3rd Ram over the last many years, I'm sure the first was not Stellantis but the other two are, he has had less issues with his trucks than anyone I know, go figure.

That truck will probably be 100k so I will never own one!

 

[Bluefish]

Still no place to charge an ev around me so outside of a few cities and towns its a non-starter. I also seriously question how anything electric handles towing. Understand this is a hybrid, just need to understand the actual real-life implications of having a dead battery, a big boat in tow, and a 200 mile drive home that doesnt pass a charging station.

Electric struggles for towing simply because batteries have very little energy in comparison to liquid fuels. A gallon of gas is about 32kwh of battery. So a 100kwh pack is equal to only 3 gallons of gas as far as energy. Luckily electric is about 3x as efficient so for range it’s equal to about 9 gallons of gas.

From living with EV’s a quick comparison is take a comparable gas vehicle and remove a 0 to get your m/kwh usage. So take a 1/2 ton pickup with about 20 mpg and it will use 2m/kwh So the 100 kwh pack on a Lightning is about 200 mile range. Now towing a big trailer they get maybe 10 mpg, so 1 mile per kWh or a 100 mile range. Here is the kicker, that’s average, but if that first 50 miles is uphill, range will be significantly less and you might only go 50-60 miles as you didn’t get to average in 50 miles of downhill. Then figure you don’t want to use the last 15% of your battery and range gets real small quickly.

 

[CorbLand]

Friends don’t let friends buy Stellantis products.

If I made a list of reputable auto manufacturers who have consistently come out with innovations that have panned out, Stellantis wouldn’t make the list. They need to get their current issues and “innovations” figured out before doing anything new.

That said, the concept is cool. I would take an HD pickup from a reputable manufacturer with this tech if it was executed correctly (6.7 power stroke King Ranch with hybrid tech sounds pretty sweet). There’s just no way that Stellantis will execute it correctly based on their track record.

Hey, a fellow Utahan that also thinks Dodges suck? I think you and I are alone on that in this State.

 

[Loo.wii]

Still no place to charge an ev around me so outside of a few cities and towns its a non-starter. I also seriously question how anything electric handles towing. Understand this is a hybrid, just need to understand the actual real-life implications of having a dead battery, a big boat in tow, and a 200 mile drive home that doesnt pass a charging station.

Diesel electric trains work the same way as this vehicle is intended to work. Run a generator at its most efficient rpm. To power a motor that charges a battery and runs an electric motor. Most trains use this means of power. So do older submarines.

 

[Loo.wii]

Drill baby drill....

This allows for both consumption of petroleum and advancements in vehicle tech. Could you imagine the torque and acceleration of an ev with the reliability of a regular engine running in its most efficient state.

 

[Beendare]

@Bluefish points out the physics of it. EV motors are efficient enough....but when you add the mass of the battery needed- in some cases making sedans 5,600#, that kills their efficiency and range.

Toyota has found that happy medium, my kids Rav 4 gets 37mpg.

What's crazy to me is how they strangle these very efficient motors with so much emissions crap- they end up using more fuel....which is counter productive.

If my truck gets another 8 MPG, thats less fuel it's burning and less emissions. Not only that, but these motors would be less complex, easier to maintain and work on and less expensive.

But of course, when the Green Initiative folks from Government get involved....they always muck it up.

 

[Macintosh]

Diesel electric trains work the same way as this vehicle is intended to work. Run a generator at its most efficient rpm. To power a motor that charges a battery and runs an electric motor. Most trains use this means of power. So do older submarines.

Thanks, but I really dont understand if or how thats relevant to my question. If its great technology, Im all for it. My question is if and how and to what degree it is limiting given my specific use and location. Electric-only isnt viable for my use. Id like to understand what the implications are for me and my use during a trip where the electric portion of the vehicles function isnt there. Whats my new range towing over a mountain range, is the tank big enough to handle that, etc. i dont know if it simply becomes a gas vehicle at that point, or if there are limitations by virtue of the electric component.

 

[180ls1]

Fast, efficient, reliable. Pick 2.

 

[Bluefish]

@Bluefish points out the physics of it. EV motors are efficient enough....but when you add the mass of the battery needed- in some cases making sedans 5,600#, that kills their efficiency and range.

Toyota has found that happy medium, my kids Rav 4 gets 37mpg.

What's crazy to me is how they strangle these very efficient motors with so much emissions crap- they end up using more fuel....which is counter productive.

If my truck gets another 8 MPG, thats less fuel it's burning and less emissions. Not only that, but these motors would be less complex, easier to maintain and work on and less expensive.

But of course, when the Green Initiative folks from Government get involved....they always muck it up.

I have heard some of the gain for a generator/motor configuration is it allows the engine to run a more efficient cycle. That cycle doesn’t work well for variable speed and load, but can be ok with a generator. The problem with a generator and motor configuration is the generator has to make all the power needed for the motor. You can’t have a simple 15kw generator and battery to run your truck down the road. In theory it may work, but in practice you quickly deplete the battery and the generator can’t keep up, which limits speed/power. BMW with range extender is a perfect example of this. Would only do 45-50 after the battery was down.

A volt style system would work, but it has essentially dual drive systems. Full gas and full electric. It also didn’t get much better milage than a straight gas system. Maybe 1-2 mpg. Its advantage is that it was an EV for 40 miles and then you could drive across country too. If you drove less than 40 miles per day it would almost never need gas. If they built a system like that for trucks with a 50-60 kwh pack it would be nice. The problem is that’s a lot of money and weight in batteries. If they build it, it will have a 20-30 kwh pack which imho is far too small.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

I have a '22 F150 hybrid. Range is about 650 miles in the summer, 600 in the winter.

 

[Macintosh]

@DenverCountryBoy Do you know the range towing +/- 4000-6000lb trailer in the mountains?

 

[Loo.wii]

I have a '22 F150 hybrid. Range is about 650 miles in the summer, 600 in the winter.

600 highway miles? or city ?

 

[MuleyFever]

I also seriously question how anything electric handles towing.

If I understand it right this is the same process a train uses. And trains tow pretty well. And they dont stop to plug in and charge.

 

[The John]

not a bad way to do it, but for the time being you still have to consider the cost of the battery (like all battery vehicles). The battery replacement cost for an ev or a hybrid vehicle is very high (10-15K) and the cost will not likely go down in the future.

Search facebook marketplace for ev cars and youll find a bunch of cheap ones that need a battery replacement.

 

[Phaseolus]

I’ll be putting solar on the roof of my house eventually. I’ll do the work myself so that lowers the cost of doing so. When I do I plan to get an electric commuter vehicle that I can charge at home for use here in the valley and nearby. I’ll keep my F450 for dragging the camper around and other uses.

 

[Macintosh]

If I understand it right this is the same process a train uses. And trains tow pretty well. And they dont stop to plug in and charge.

Any idea on that with regard to post #29 above? I know zero about the technology so am curious about how it’ll work for the application.

 

[MuleyFever]

Any idea on that with regard to post #29 above? I know zero about the technology so am curious about how it’ll work for the application.

I dont know how they work exactly but am curious to find out.

 

[Erict]

EV vehicle production is likely going to see some ups and downs in the next decade:

Long range RAM 1500 REV cancelled

 

[Legend]

If I understand it right this is the same process a train uses. And trains tow pretty well. And they dont stop to plug in and charge.

Likewise I do not understand how diesel to electric works. But trains are not the only example. A lot all of the really big equipment (think draglines at a coal mine) are electric. Granted not all of the big equipment have a diesel/electric on board.

I have always been curious why this approach has not been used in a vehicle. Guess we will find out the pros/cons now.

 

[Legend]

EV vehicle production is likely going to see some ups and downs in the next decade:

Long range RAM 1500 REV cancelled

If I understand that article they canceled the long range battery version to embrace their new technology. Which may have better range performance.

I won't jump on board but it may be foolish to avoid. Gotta be a few smart people making vehicles that are in bed with oil companies.....right??