And Then There Were Three - Ram 1500 Revolution EV
…the folks in Auburn Hills were the remaining part of the classic ‘big-three’ that had not thrown their hat into the electric full-size truck ring.
That ended at this month’s CES where Ram showed off their long anticipated Revolution electric truck.
Trucks are one of the hottest segments on the move to electrification. While startups are working hard to break into this market (for instance, Rivian with their R1T, Lordstown with the Endurance, and Canoo with their…’pickup truck’) the companies that we know can be trusted both to build hundreds of thousands of examples every year and to exist a decade from now are the classic ‘big three’ automakers from Detroit.
Chevrolet and GMC, using GM’s new Ultium platform, brought us electric trucks. First under the Hummer name, Then with variants under the Chevrolet and GMC brands.
After that first Hummer electric truck, Ford brought us the Lightning. Ford’s truck is an electrified version of their popular F-150. Their truck was both the least ambitious (essentially adding batteries and electric motors to the regular F-150) while also being most likely to change the world since Ford could rapidly scale up this truck to meet demand, as it uses mostly off-the-shelf components.
This has left the folks in Auburn Hills as the remaining member of the ‘big-three’ that had not thrown their hat into the electric full-size truck ring.
The wait ended at this month’s CES where Ram showed off their long anticipated 1500 Revolution electric truck.
Built on Stelantis’ STLA Frame platform, the Ram 1500 Revolution concept previews a production truck that is expected to be shown later this year. This short wait before the production reveal means that most details are likely locked in, but not enough to badge this truck as more than a concept.
However, there are plenty of juicy details in the concept that suggest some very truck-y and versatile features will be heading our way.
Powertrain
Packed between the concept’s frame rails is a low mounted battery pack that mirrors all the other electric trucks we have seen so far. This keeps the extra mass down low and out of the way of the cabin and cargo areas of the truck. It is the smart play as it leads to sporty handling, especially for a truck.
Putting power to the pavement are an electric drive unit (motor) at each axle. This likely previews the all-wheel drive and high-power variants of the production truck. It is likely that Ram will offer a rear-drive option as well at a lower price point.
Otherwise Ram has been mum on power, range, and performance. We’ll have to wait for the production truck announcement to learn more.
That doesn’t mean that there isn’t other news in the powertrain announcements. Confirmed by Ram management, is a range extender (as gas powered engine that drives an electric generator) will be part of the powertrain offerings. So you’ll be able to get your Ram electric truck with the ability to continue its journey even if you can’t immediately find a charging station. We don't know yet the details of how, exactly, Ram will implement a range extender. This could be a significant differentiator for Ram in the market when their truck goes on sale.
Carg-whoa
Beyond that powertrain hedge…there are several cargo and interior features that show that the minivan and truck crew at Ram/Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler haven’t lost their touch.
We thought that GM held a patent on the mid-gate idea. Apparently not. Where GM is planning to offer the Silverado and Sierra EVs with a 60/40 mid-gate separating the cabin from the bed…Ram is planning to offer a 50/50 split. This will allow, along with the folding rear and front passenger seats, the ability to extend the cargo bed into the cab.
But, that’s far from the only trick.
The Revolution includes a split tailgate that opens, dutch-door style. To extend the back of the bed further, the bed floor slides rearward to extend to fill the space between these dutch doors and then the inner skins of the tailgate halves pivot out to make a new rear bulkhead to contain even longer loads.
But, what if you have something really long to carry?
The Revolution has a front trunk where a classic engine would live…but Ram went a step further. They have designed in a passthrough to the cabin in the center of the trunk as well. This means that, when taking advantage of all the extra cargo carrying tricks…that you could carry 18’ long lumber with it extending from the front of the trunk…through the center of the cab (under the center console)…through the mid-gate…and ending with the extended bed floor and dutch doors open and the barrier deployed for the longest bed config available. That is a mind-bending level of flexibility all without ever having to worry about attaching a red flag to the end of your boards as you drive home from the hardware store.
Comforts
Room for your cargo isn’t the only place where the Revolution shines.
The interior also has what the brand calls ‘Ram Rails’ that are used in the bed and trunk for cargo management…but, inside the cab, they are used as mounting points for the seats. This allows the 2nd row seats to slide fore and aft just like the front row. Note, that is ‘2nd row’ not ‘rear’…because this cab, which is the longest of any Ram truck that has come before, also has a pair of jump-seats mounted to the mid-gate. So, this is the first full-sized truck with 3 rows of seating.
These jump seats mean that you can have extra passengers in a pinch, though we wouldn’t expect you’d ever want anyone you really care about to sit back there for long.
The Revolution concept also shows thoughts on the ever expanding center screens of modern vehicles. In this case, a pair of screens make up either a single large center display or one can be hidden away or re-purposed. The release video showed this second screen being mounted above a shelf on the dash to act as a pseudo laptop. This seems like one of the most concept-y ideas of this concept and likely won’t see production.
So, with Ram’s new Revolution concept, we see where the Auburn Hills brain-trust are thinking of taking their full-size truck in the world of electrification. Given their public statements that a production truck could bow in a number of months…and that Ram historically shows new trucks at the February Chicago Auto Show…we don’t think we have long to wait to see what of this truck will make it to market. Even then, we wouldn’t expect a truck you can buy until possibly 2025 as a 2026 model.
Electric Car Road Trips - What You Need to Know
Electric cars can be intimidating.
For about as long as anyone alive remembers, we have had gas stations in every town. We all had to learn growing up that the gas gauge is something to keep an eye on and we just stop at a station to fill up when needed. We also know that all pumps will connect to our car (diesel notwithstanding).
Electric cars can be intimidating.
For about as long as anyone alive remembers, we have had gas stations in every town. We all had to learn growing up that the gas gauge is something to keep an eye on and we just stop at a station to fill up when needed. We also know that all pumps will work with our car (diesel notwithstanding). We largely understand that octane rating is -something- our car needs and a value listed on the fuel door tells us which hose is ‘required’ or recommended. Additionally, we know about how long a fill-up will take.
Electrics have many similarities, but the industry is still working towards the same sort of ubiquitous supply of charging stations that we expect and need.
However, fewer available chargers with varying plugs and rates of charge lends a certain amount of uncertainty with regard to taking long road trips in an electric.
It is with that in mind that Unhealthy Obsession with Cars is going to try to break down the capabilities of any electric we review to help show what a road trip would entail.
We are based in the Denver area. Out west even gas stations can be far apart. So we picked a significant distance to drive from here that crosses rural America using mainly interstate travel. Increased infrastructure on an interstate should combine with the slowness to roll-out new tech away from population centers to give a nice average.
Our standard road-trip drive will take us from Denver to St Louis, crossing rural Eastern Colorado, Kansas, and northern Missouri.
To help plan the trip as well as to estimate appropriate stopping/recharging points, we will use the amazing route planning service for electric cars ‘A Better Route Planner’ (ABRP) which understands the gory details of individual electric car battery capacity (similar to fuel tank size), driving efficiency (similar to MPG), and the capabilities of charging stations (not exactly analogous to anything in the gas-powered car world - but close to how fast the pump can flow gas into the tank) in order to plan out a route. Their plan is based on how much charge is left after each leg of the journey and how fast and how much you need to add to easily make it to the next stop.
In our recent Ioniq 6 piece, we added this standard road trip to our review of the car. In this case, the high-speed of recharge that the Hyundai is capable of results in guidance of 100-170 miles between recharge stops. That keeps you in the sweet spot for DC fast charging where the Ioniq can charge from that 10% all the way to 80% at the fastest recharge rate. ABRP also directs you to the fast charging stations along the route to minimize the length of stops.
Ioniq 6 Road Trip
Combined the drive is estimated to be a series of 1.5-2.5 hour drives with 15-20 minute stops all the way from Denver to St. Louis. Total time at chargers adds up to 1.5 hours.
To show how using the ABRP service can help evaluate electrics…let’s take a look at the same drive in Ford’s F-150 Lightning with a standard battery pack.
F-150 Lightning Road Trip
Here you can see a similar number of stops along the way (7 instead of 6) but why are the stops a minimum of 32 minutes and as many much as 1 hour and 12 minutes? Also, why is that last leg of the trip yellow?
ABRP helps uncover the impact of details most buyers won’t want to understand. The F-150 has a bigger battery, by far than the Ioniq 5…but it’s consumption per mile is practically 3 times greater than the ultra slippery Hyundai.
This wouldn’t be so bad if you could recharge at the same rate as the Hyundai (which can gulp power at up to 221kW), but the Ford can’t take advantage of the fastest DC fast-charge stations (maxing at 150kW charging). A bigger battery, refilled slower means longer charging times. Total time at the charger for this trip in the Lightning is over 5.5 hours. Additionally, that last leg of the trip highlighted in yellow? To get from Boonville to St. Louis, the Lightning needs to go no faster than 60mph to preserve power and make it before the battery drops below 20% (a value we pick for all cars analyzed so you would have power to get around town once you reach the destination.
So, in this fairly random comparison, we uncover interesting differences to discuss - we will continue to do so in the future so we can all better understand our electric future and see what companies are making better decisions as they design their new products.
The dense details of electric car design are something that will make sense in years to come - but until then, we’ll help turn the facts into something the average driver can feel…time sitting around waiting - since that is what may tell you if a given electric could work for your travel needs.
JD Power IQS ranks Detroit ahead of imports for the first time
While the industry average went down slightly (from 108 problems per 100 vehicles in 2009 to 109 in 2010), this year's results are the first time that the Detroit 3 have come out ahead of imports. The Detroit brands actually improved their quality over last year's results by 4, bringing them to a score of 108. The import brands matched the overall industry average of 109.
Ford was the highest ranked US brand with a score of 93.
JD Power ranks lists the top 3 models in several segments and Ford had a model represented in the top 3 in a dozen segments. They had 3 models that topped their respective segments, tied with Lexus for most top-of-segment honors.
GM had 10 models in the top 3 of their segments.
Chrysler's results were mixed with Ram coming in just shy of industry average with the Dodge car brand (Ram split from Dodge recently, taking the truck lines away from Dodge) coming in as the worst Detroit brand in initial quality.
It is interesting to notice that Toyota's recent troubles have pulled its ranking down significantly falling from 6th place last year to 21st in the 2010 survey. It is significant to mention that IQS has its detractors since any complaint on the survey is listed as a problem (recent high profile examples were Mini dropping low in the list in part due to poor cupholder design). This means that IQS scores can be highly dependent on the level of picky-ness of the customers of a brand during a given year.
Highest in the rankings this year was Porsche with a 83 and lowest went to Land Rover with 170.
New EPA mileage numbers for hybrids
Starting for the 08 model year, the EPA is adjusting their mileage numbers to reflect something closer to real-world numbers. Of note is that the testing procedure has not changed - the EPA is basically running the existing numbers through a correction formula to get the new ratings.
Also of note is that the fuel consumption really has not changed. The EPA is merely trying to give consumers a more realistic expectation when they are comparing vehicles.
So, here is what the changes give us (when available, comparable non-hybrid models are also listed). The each set of numbers are city/highway/combined ratings. The first set are the old ratings while the last column are the ratings under the new formula.
TCC Spies 2009 Mazda6
The Mazda6 has been quite a successful car for both Mazda - making it a legitimate player in the mid-sized sedan game, and Ford - server as the basis for most of their new mid-sized product (Fusion, Milan, Edge).So, the redesign of the Mazda6 is a big deal - and the folks over at the Car Connection have spotted the new car in disguise.
Ford's versions of the platform were stretched and the new 6 takes advantage of the extra room in the 2nd generation car seen here.
Expect stronger family resemblance to the RX-8, MX-5 (Miata), and the CX crossovers with defined front fender bulges and swoopy light clusters front and rear.Expect the new 6 to debut later this year.
Read all about it over at:
The Car Connection: 2009 Mazda6 Spied
2009 Ford Flex
Ford is in desperate need of product that shows that they are not ready to go just yet to go belly-up.They need something that shows that they have intelligent minds behind the scenes that know exactly what customers really want and are working late nights to bring it to them before all the money runs out and Ford becomes a footnote in the early 21st century automotive history.
The Flex...unfortunately, is not that product.
Looking like a, somehow, less attractive version of the Fairlane concept, the Flex is being billed as a crossover for families (neo-minivan). While it has a few unique elements (incredibly angular styling, available refrigerator, etc...it comes across, especially with blacked out pillars and a white roof as Ford's 7-seat answer to the Mini Cooper.
Also, the obvious question is 'does Ford need _another_ 3-row, available AWD, V-6 crossover/wagon/thing? Exactly how is this serving a different need than the Freestyle (or as it is now known - Taurus X). Now Ford has 2 5-seat people movers in the Escape and Edge and 2 7-seaters in the Flex and Taurus X...wouldn't the duplicated development have been better spent in improving the products that _don't_ compete with other Ford products?
Oh well...I guess time will tell.
See more pics over at:
Winding Road: New York Auto Show: A Fairlane by any Other Name - Ford Debuts '09 Flex
Ford Foose F-150 - a Lightning by any other name...
Of particular fame was the high-performance F-150 dubbed the Lightning.
However, Ford has fallen on hard times and one of the first things to get dialed back was the SVT programs. Now, the only product left is the Mustang GT500, which is more a vehicle to carry the Shelby name than SVT.
Anther casualty was the hi-po F-150...until now.Ford has entered into a partnership with Chip Foose and the first product of this relationship is the F-150 Foose Edition. Packing a 450hp supercharged 5.4l V-8 (similar to the 500hp version in the GT500 Mustang) - this is the most powerful half-ton F-series ever.
Other changes include customer grill-work, lowered suspension, and 22" wheels w/ Z-rated rubber.
Expect this to be a sign (along with the relationship with Shelby) of how Ford plans to market SVT-type vehicles in the future. Give customers the extra enticement of a famous name label on the special edition products to give them more cache then SVT was able to provide alone.
Holy Crap! - Shelby to unveil 540hp Mustang at New York
If you thought the Shelby GT500 with its 500hp was an impressive ride - check this out.The GT500KR (KR = King of the Road and hearkens back to the classic GT500KR of 40 years ago) is a limited production (only 1000 will be built), coupe only, with an even higher performance version of the 5.4l supercharged V-8 from the standard GT500. In this iteration, we get 540hp and 510lb*ft of torque.
Other special touches include:
Recalibrated suspension, underhood cross brace, carbon composite hood with scoops paterned after the original GT500KR, 20" Shelby designed wheels for the concept (18" of the same design for the production KR), front brake cooling ducts, and 40th anniversary badging all over.
Expect MSRP's over 50k with actual transaction prices quite a bit higher.