Ram showed off its fully electric Revolution concept truck only last month at CES 2023, but just 38 days later the production version is ready to break cover. To be called the Ram 1500 REV, a name revealed at last week’s Chicago Auto Show, the new pickup is the star of parent company Stellantis’ Super Bowl ad buy and much closer to reality than anybody thought.
Although Ram didn’t share any actual specs in tonight’s commercial, previewed earlier in the day on the company’s website, the video and photos do reveal quite a bit of detail about what the truck will be like. The biggest takeaway? With many pieces that are clearly drawn from the gas-powered Ram 1500, it’s decidedly less radical than the tech-laden, quasi-three-row Revolution concept.
On the other hand, retaining components from that well-loved truck won’t put off very many buyers and will certainly speed up the production timeline, and the 1500 REV seems much closer to a production vehicle than Tesla’s Cybertruck. It also looks well suited to competing with the Ford F-150 Lightning.
Ram 1500 REV: A Mix of Old and New
After the wild looks and features of the Revolution, it seemed like a production-ready version of Ram’s first EV truck was still some time off. The 1500 REV is more conventional in every way than the concept and closer to the Lightning in execution than the Chevy Silverado EV or Rivian R1T. Although it retains the cool new lighting signatures and some of the style of the concept, it’s mostly a conventional body-on-frame truck in the familiar Ram mode.
It isn’t, however, a straight adaptation of the gas 1500. The body and bed are clearly drawn from the gas truck, even though the rear gets different styling and much larger taillights. It looks nice, but very much like the existing truck. Ram’s teaser photos even show the clever RamBox storage units that integrate into the bed, an option on the gas truck.
But the 1500 REV will ride atop the “STLA Frame” platform, one of Stellantis’ new electric vehicle platforms and the only one meant for very large vehicles like this. (The others are STLA Small, Medium and Large, and are meant for cars, crossovers and SUVs, including the Chrysler Airflow).
STLA Frame
While all eyes were on the Revolution concept at CES, Stellantis also displayed a bare chassis version of the STLA frame at that event, so we have some idea of what the frame will be like. A conventional boxed frame, the rails widen at the center to accommodate large battery packs within, as on the Rivian R1T and R1S.
Ram has previously said that the 1500 REV’s range target is 500 miles, and that the STLA Frame architecture can handle battery packs ranging from 159 kWh to around 200 kWh. That’s a big jump from the Lightning’s 98 and 131-kWh packs, but Ford’s frame rails are also more confining since they had to match up with the mounting points of the regular F-150.
In the prototype STLA Frame seen at CES, two electric motors sat low between the axles and the big inverter between the front axle and the battery pack. That leaves plenty of room for a massive frunk, just like on the Lightning. It also opens the possibility of a single-motor rear-drive budget version of the truck, which could boost range even further. Ram has also said the truck will offer an optional gas-engine range extender in the mold of the old BMW i3, although just what that will look like remains unknown.
Again, while no firm specs have been released, based on information that was forthcoming at CES, we know that Ram is targeting around 750 horsepower and 10,000 pounds of towing capacity. The truck will also support 800V/350 kW DC fast charging that can add 100 miles of range in 10 minutes, similar to the Chevrolet Silverado EV.
A Glimpse Inside
Though it’s only teased for a few seconds in Ram’s commercial, the 1500 REV’s interior won’t be quite like that of the current 1500 either. While the dashboard seems partly drawn from the current gas-powered truck, the center stack will feature a much larger touchscreen and, as on recent Jeep models, front passengers will get their own optional dashboard screen.
It’s not clear if the new dash and screens will be part of an overall refresh for the regular Ram 1500 as well (by 2024 it will be six model years old), but they happily include lots of hard controls. Automaker preferences across the industry for easily-updatable and pretty screens over easier-to-use physical buttons has been a recurring pain point on new EVs.
The commercial features only a crew cab, short-bed setup, which is currently the only configuration available on the Lightning. It’s also by far the most popular configuration among full-size truck buyers, and the Revolution concept hinted at a family-friendly truck, but the tracked seating and midgate pass-through seem like they won’t be included here.
Reservations Open
Consumers will get their first look at the truck during tonight’s Super Bowl, and online reservations open today at RamREV.com.
Production isn’t slated to begin until Q3 of 2024 despite the seeming readiness of the truck depicted in the commercial, but prospective buyers can plunk down a one-time $100 refundable fee for membership in Rev Insider+, which the truckmaker says will offer access to news an events related to the truck and the potential to lock-in a pre-order once the books open. The program follows similar pre-order setups from Tesla and General Motors.
Ram says the commercial, featuring The Daily Show’s Jason Jones, will both preview its new truck and help address consumers’ electrification anxieties, primarily about range, power and payload. Overcoming that skepticism is important because while the 1500 REV will be the first Ram EV, it won’t be the last, says Ram CEO Mike Koval Jr.
“We believe in bringing the right range of powertrain solutions to our customers, and the Ram 1500 REV will be the first in a lineup of electrified solutions,” Koval said in a press release. “We are on an exciting electrification journey that will see Ram push past the competition in areas customers care about the most: range, payload, towing and charge time.”