You may remember that back in 2023 at the New York Auto Show, Ram announced its intentions to take on the Ford F-150 Lightning and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Tesla Cybertruck, with its own battery-powered pick-up.
That was to be the Ram 1500 REV, but things have changed quite dramatically since then. Parent company Stellantis has had a change of CEO with big EV advocate Carlos Tavares leaving the company at the back end of 2024. Meanwhile, globally, EV demand in all sectors has stagnated, and the US government in particular has reversed several policies introduced in the Biden administration designed to support EV uptake.
Ram 1500, rear
Now, that’s led to Ram canning its plans for the REV. In a brief press release, Stellantis stated: “As demand for full-size battery electric trucks slows in North America, Stellantis is reassessing its product strategy and will discontinue development of a full-size BEV pickup.”
It will be pushing on with its range-extender variant of the 1500, though, utilising a 92kWh battery pack supplemented by a 3.6-litre V6 serving solely as a generator. That’ll take up the 1500 REV name now, having previously been touted as the Ramcharger.
Ram 1500, front
It comes off the back of a 5.7-litre Hemi V8 returning to the Ram range earlier in the summer, in a dramatic U-turn from Tavares’ reign over Stellantis, which saw V8s across the company set for execution. Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis previously stated the brand had “screwed up” with its decision to remove a V8 option from the 1500.
That decision added further fuel to rumours that Hem power would be returning wholesale to Stellantis’ North American line-up, set to feature in newer Jeep models and, perhaps most excitingly, potentially in the new generation of Dodge Charger. Reports have suggested the 6.4-litre and 6.2-litre supercharged versions of the engine could all re-enter production.
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