http://www.allpar.com/model/ram/electric-PHEV.html


4x4, 6,000lb+ towing capacity, 32mpg? Whats not to like? I would be willing to bet the price is going to be the only drawback to this. Since a loaded Ram 1500 can approach $55,000, Who wants to bet a loaded Ram PHEV will be near the 70k mark?

 

nice numbers but who would buy it? Those dual mode hybrid trucks from GM never took off. I'd rather just see a "small" 4.0-5.0L diesel offered in all 1/2 tons

 

At 70k, I dont know anyone who would buy it. I would seriously consider it for 40-50k (about what a Nicely Equipped Ram Sport goes for). My 70k price is simply speculative, they have not reached pricing on it yet.

I am all about 32mpg in a full size truck though. As far as a diesel in a half-ton, I agree, and they should turn to Caterpillar or Detroit to get it done. Cummins does great motors, but not in anything smaller than 5.9 (which is actually a 6.0), and the 6.7 now.

I think 32mpg on diesel in a half-ton might be attainable too.

 

70K is close to Super Duty territory (Iirc a fully spec'ed F-350 is over 60K). But I think your right. Look at the Focus EV over its GDI counterpart. EV seems to be synonymous with a +15K price tag over normal pricing.

Low 30's mpg can be attainable, but weight is always an issue. Iirc the F-150 is the heaviest of the bunch, and a current rumor mill surrounding Ford is they want to shed 400-700lbs off the next gen. Cutting weight while increasing mpgs and retaining payload and towing will be the greatest obstacle for all of them

 

32 MPG is "fake", meaning it includes running 20 miles on electricity alone during which time no fuel is spent, which "bumps" the "MPG" to 32. When out of electricity you would probably get 20mpg or less... just like Prius PHEV is rated 95 MPGe when running on full charge and 50 MPG without electricity left.

And 20 miles is mighty small charge for a truck, loaded truck would get half of that or less.

PHEV truck? i cant see it making too much sense. Hybrid yes... PHEV, probably not.

 

You know i really don't understand why they dont scale down Locomotive tech and put it in full sized trucks. Those things can go for miles without using a drop of fuel.

PHEV makes sense if its executed correctly. How gives a shat if its 32MPGe or 32 legitimate MPG? If it works out so I have to only fill my truck with fuel every 1,000+ miles, why is how its calculated so important?

 

well, if you plugin your truck ever 10 miles, for 3-4 hours, you will be able to go 20,000+ without filling your truck.

to get 32 MPG, you would have to plugin your truck every 30-50 miles, for 4+ hours.

 

Oh, I guess I didn't understand what you were getting at. Were that the case, I am thinking that it would have a little bit more range, wouldnt it? And to be honest, my truck does pretty good by itself. The EPA was very conservative with their ratings on the Ram's, I see 22-24mpg hwy regularly, Hemi owners on the Ram Club are seeing 20-22. Trucks arent the lumbering inefficient beasts that they used to be, thats for sure.

If for no other reason than just to do it, I would like to see either this, or a Diesel-Electric Hybrid pickup truck. And I honestly think Ram (Chrysler) is at the forefront of it. Chevy pioneered the dual drive hybrid with the tahoe and silverado, but they only got 20mpg, even with hybrid assistance. For people to be willing to pay the premium, the mpg needs to be significantly increased, and the only way to do that is to learn from other manufacturer's and build off of their expertise, constantly attempting to pioneer new technology, and improving the existing stuff at every turn.

 

yeah, this is why i said that charging extra $5k-10k for 20 miles doesnt make sense... after 20 miles, you are left with pure hybrid system which has to lug around a lot of unused batteries.

Chrysler is lagging on hybrid front, who knows what will happen. You need economy of scale to sell a lot of hybrids.