I for one am not interested by the fully electric full size trucks. Still, the Ram 1500 with range extender tickles my curiosity. I find it at a minimum intriguing and at most comical that RAM would use an engine the size of the Pentastar. I have a Pentastar to power my 6,000 lbs. Gladiator Rubicon and now, the same engine will be given a brand new role as a generator! Really, I cannot help but think that we all want to see what professional reviewers like Tim will have to say about such a set-up.
RAM 1500 Range extender
- Thread starter C-Square
- Start date
But diesels are messy with lots of emissions equipment and def fluid, and they're heavier (per HP) as well. There is no need to run a diesel as a small gasser is 100% able to do the job, the torque for this truck comes 100% from the batteries.
I feel they did the right thing; they picked an engine they have many years of experience with, it's cheap, very reliable, and has excellent NVH (it won Wards 10 best engines several years). No doubt a more efficient gas engine can be designed to do the generators job but this gets the truck out the door and keeps costs down for everyone. I'm sure they'll refine the idea if demand takes off.
Most PHEV vehicles use a much smaller gas engine than you’d think. The reason is weight and power delivery. With an ICE and battery setup, you can go pretty small and still have it pull like a V-8. That’s going to be the trick with this truck.
And with this as technically a range extender, I'm actually surprised they didn't go even smaller on the engine size to be honest.
I have never seen a gasoline powered Generator for industrial use . The torgue from diesel allows for low RPM fuel savings and long life .
The key being "industrial use". This ram has different constraints and design goals and targets passenger usage, so weight is always an issue. It's a little different use case than (say) a freight train which does use diesel electric.
The 3.6 is already powerful enough to drive a 1500 with 305+ hp. Torque won't be an issue, neither will longevity.
Like Tim suggested, I am actually surprised they went that big on the gas engine, I would have guessed they could used a NA 4 banger.
This move was quite ingenious on their part. It tackles the primary concern of electric vehicles, which is range anxiety. From a production perspective, the risk is minimal. The investment in the development of the EV for the REV and EV Promaster has already been made, and there's a consistent supply of the Pentastar and the necessary tooling. If this concept proves successful and, more crucially, marketable, it could be a significant victory for them. Conversely, if it fails, the loss would be comparatively minor. This could serve as the "gateway" electric vehicle for truck enthusiasts.
I think peak torque @ 4700 is an issue on an engine powering a generator . Only reason to use the 3.6 is to save money.
Agreed, least buck for the biggest bang.
Why? We'll have to wait and see for actual performance but I doubt it is going to be sitting at peak torque for any period of time. I don't think this is going to be run like a portable two stroke honda at one fixed speed, they were talking about rev matching it based on system demand. So if you're idling at a light, engine is barely running as well, if you're towing it will rev higher.
While I agree that cost is always a factor, I think we touched on other reasons as well; diesel comes with its own set of very significant downsides (emissions crap, def, weight), all without providing any real advantage over a gasser.
The advantage is fuel economy and carbon output . Otherwise why go electric ?
These are designed to be driven by electric motors, and when you run out/low the generator kicks in. That's where the fuel economy and carbon output is being handled.
These trucks are already super heavy due to battery pack, by the looks of it they're a 2500 in all but name.